How would you like a one way-trip out of earth? It would be good to get away from the worries of this world, right?
About a hundred people agree and have decided to do something about it.
Mars One, a Dutch non-profit plans to send humans on a one-way trip to Mars and has recently announced its final 100 candidates.
The 100 candidates which were drawn from an initial pool of more than 200,000 applicants will be further whittled down to 24 who will then make up six crews of four that will launch every two years to Mars from 2024.
What’s the point of all these? Mars One says the idea is aimed at starting a colony up on the Red Planet.
A recent MIT report found that the longest a human can stay alive on Mars, using current technology, is merely 68 days and only half of the unmanned missions to Mars have succeeded. While this may read like a death wish, most of the candidates seem to care little.
“I am doing this for something better”, says 35 year old Alison Rigby, a Chemistry graduate, “[This] will hopefully benefit more people than just staying at home and keeping my mum happy.”
The shortlist of the 100 candidates is an interesting array of individuals ranging from scientists, academics to flat-out adrenaline junkies. There are seven Africans on the current shortlist.
Image via: MIT/Bryan Versteeg/Mars One
