Wanted: Mars colonists to explore red planet
#843493: First color image of Mars surface (detail) from NASA Mars Exploration Rover "Spirit", photo / AP Graphics
If you think you have the right stuff to help colonize Mars, you'll soon get your chance to prove it.
The Netherlands-based nonprofit Mars One, which hopes to put the first boots on the Red Planet in 2023, released its basic astronaut requirements today (Jan. 8), setting the stage for a televised global selection process that will begin later this year.
Mars One isn't zeroing in on scientists or former fighter pilots; anyone who is at least 18 years old can apply to become a Mars colony pioneer. The most important criteria, officials say, are intelligence, good mental and physical health and dedication to the project, as astronauts will undergo eight years of training before launch.
"Gone are the days when bravery and the number of hours flying a supersonic jet were the top criteria," Norbert Kraft, Mars One's chief medical director and a former NASA researcher, said in a statement. "Now, we are more concerned with how well each astronaut works and lives with the others, in the long journey from Earth to Mars and for a lifetime of challenges ahead."
Mars One plans to launch a series of robotic cargo missions between 2016 and 2021, which will build a habitable Red Planet outpost ahead of the arrival of the first four colonists in 2023. More settlers will arrive every two years after that. There are no plans to return the pioneers to Earth. [Mars One: 'Big Brother' on Mars? (Video)]
The organization will fund most of its ambitious activities by staging a global reality-TV event that follows the colonization effort from astronaut selection through the settlers' first years on Mars.
Mars One, which transitioned from a private company to a nonprofit late last year, has already received a number of inquiries from prospective colonists, officials said.
"Well before the official Astronaut Selection Program, we received more than 1,000 emails from individuals who desire to go to Mars," Suzanne Flinkenflogel, Mars One's communications director, said in a statement. "We are working hard to launch our selection campaign as soon as possible, to open the doors to everyone who aspires to do something tremendous in their lifetime."
Final astronaut candidates will be selected after review by Mars One experts and a global TV event. Those chosen will be employed by Mars One during their Earth-based training and for the length of their time on the Red Planet, officials said.
To learn more about the selection process, go to www.thenextgiantleap.com.
This story was provided by SPACE.com, a sister site to LiveScience. Follow SPACE.com on Twitter @Spacedotcom. We're also on Facebook & Google+.
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—Konstantin Tsiolkovsky
For all those who have doubts about this mission, who say it's a waste of money, etc. I ask you, do you think we can actually stay here forever? I understand why you may have doubts, but it's a practical matter; we have to spread out, we have to expand, for the sake of our planet and our species. We are using up the Earth's resources, food, water, and space. We must spread out if we are to survive.
This mission might fail, yes. But what we learn from it, will help us in future missions.
I hope nobody signs up for the Mars mission. Ok, going there sounds exciting. And they would certainly be heroes for volunteering. The trip would be long, but they'd have the excitement of landing and getting settled. And THEN what?? After 5, 10, 20 years I think it would begin to settle in their heads that this is really a lousy place and a waste of time. I wonder what the suicide rate would be.
James Holmes has red hair to match the red planet...seems like a win win!
James Holmes has red hair to match the red planet...seems like a win win!
Spent too much time trying to keep equipment running (in a commercial environment) when the business made money and spare parts were 24 hours away. If we failed, we just didn't sell that for a little while. We were still alive to sell it next week or next month.
Yes, if you keep throwing money and lives at it (and nobody stops you), you will probably eventually get somebody there. But private ventures do go bankrupt and I don't see the profit. My guess is that the major networks that the ad revenue is supposed to come to want to show reality programs where somebody wins and nobody dies.
and politicians don't necessarily qualify, if you read it properly.