Applications have started being accepted from people who are desirous of being one of the first Martian settlers by Mars One, a non- profit, private organization. The project has been initiated by a Dutch entrepreneur who claims that the Red planet will witness first four colonists landing on it on April 24th 2023.
It must be remembered that there is no provision of a return flight to Earth and the ticket is thus only one way. The idea of one way ticket is what makes the project far cheaper than expected.
Every applicant will be required to provide a minute long video in which he or she will explain his or her suitability for candidature. Each video will be held valid for a period of two years and the organization will also charge a fee of $25 to ensure that the casual fun seekers stay away.
The company expects at least one million people garnering hopes of living on Mars. The candidates will be divided into four groups for the purpose of training after the selection is done. The training would comprise of locking the trainees in an artificial Martian base completely out of communication from the Earth akin to the Mars 500 experiment.
Living modules, essential supplies, cross country vehicles and life support systems for first settlers from Earth will be ready by 2022 and delivered by Dragon Spaceships. As compared to Mars fly-by mission which is due to start in 2018, this will be a more risky mission, comments Yuri Bubeyev of the Institute of Medical and Biological Problems.
There is a possibility that the ones who opt to go on the Martian surface as early settlers change their minds over a period of time after reaching there. But since there is no provision of a return aircraft, people on Earth might hear a lot of distress calls from Mars.
So far, 1000 e-mails have arrived from applicants of over 100 countries to Mars One. The only possibility that can hang fire the idea of a one way Mars trip is the company's inability to raise funds to the tune of $6 billion. Such a situation will ultimately cancel the project. TV reality shows are expected to raise most of the funds and these shows are expected to continue even from the Martian surface.
