Mars One Mission

 

One hundred brave souls from around the globe are now vying for a one-way ticket to Mars, knowing they will never return from the Red Planet.   

The Dutch-based Mars One project - which aims to send people to live on the faraway planet - has whittled down its shortlist of candidates from more than 200,000 to just 50 men and 50 women, a third of them Americans

From this shortlist, a final crew of four will eventually be sent to Mars, scheduled to arrive in 2025 following a grueling seven-month journey from Earth

Among the 100 prospective Mars colonists, which hail from 40 countries, there are 33 US residents ranging in age from 19 to 60

The American hopefuls come from all walks of life, including PhD students, engineers, artists, medical doctors, and even  a singer and a workout trainer. 

Out of the 33 men and women vying for the honors of traveling to Mars, half a dozen are over the age of 50, including a married father of five

SCHEDULE FOR MARS ONE MISSION

The Mars One project plans to launch a supply mission to land on Mars as soon as October 2016.

A 'settlement rover' will then land in 2018.

The landing systems will be tested eight times before they are used to transport humans - a move that Mars One said will make the trips 'much safer than moon missions'.

The group said it aims to have a human settlement on Mars within a decade.

Journey time to Mars, which is approximately 40 million miles away depending on its position in orbit, would be around 200 days.