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The Mars One mission is only a one way trip, and some may even say it’s a death sentence. That’s not stopping anyone from applying to be one of the first pioneers on Mars, though. Just a mere two weeks after the application process was opened up to potential space cadets, more than 78,000 applications have been submitted, from more than 120 countries around the world. That’s not just crazy, that’s insane! Just imagine what it would be like if your job entailed sorting through all of those applications? The project is not set to launch until September 2022, so they have plenty of time.
The application period is set to last for 19 weeks total, so that number is likely to grow significantly over time. The final trip will only see four lucky, or unlucky, individuals traveling to Mars.
The US actually has the most people interested in visiting the red planet, with 17,324 applications in total. China comes in second with 10,241 applicants and the UK in third with 3,581 applicants. The rest of the top 10 list includes Russia, Mexico, Brazil, Canada, Columbia, Argentina, and India.
Clearly, people from all over the world are ready to be astronauts. That’s not a bad thing though as the folks behind Mars One hope to garner a half a million applicants or more. Undoubtedly, this is because applicants must first pay an administration fee before they even get to see the application. The money collected will be used to help fund the project.
Applications for the Mars One mission will be accepted until August 31st, 2013. In addition, to filling out a pretty lengthy application, everyone that applies must also send in a one minute video explaining why they want to go to Mars.
The public will rate the applicants in the first round of choosing participants, while later rounds will be entirely decided by “Mars One experts.” It’s actually going to play out like this: in round two regional reviewers will choose 50 to 100 different individuals from each of the 300 geographic locations. Only 28 to 40 applicants will move on through the rounds to round four which is set to wrap up in 2015.
“No particular academic or professional background is considered a prerequisite for selection.”
However, participants are more likely to be selected if they have resilience, resourcefulness, adaptability, curiosity, a trusting nature and high creativity levels.
Applicants who make it past round four will train for seven years, allowing them to learn the necessary skills to thrive on Mars and on the trip there. It will take participants seven months to reach Mars, and if they make it successfully to the distant planet they will not be coming back. The plan is to actually have them live in one of the very first self-sustainable colonies on the planet.
Seriously though, 78,000 applicants in two weeks! Were you one of the many to apply? Let us know in the comments!
