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Nearly 100,000 people have signed up to go to Mars

The number of applicants who have signed up to be considered for a one-way trip to Mars is nearing 100,000.

The not-for-profit company Mars One began accepting applications from astronaut hopefuls in April 2013. According to a press release issued by the company on May 7, more than 78,000 people applied to the astronaut selection program in the first two weeks of the nineteen week application process. People from more than 120 countries have applied. And as the Daily Galaxy reports, “Most applications so far have come from the U.S. (17324), followed by China (10241), United Kingdom (3581), Russia, Mexico, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Argentina and India.”

Although the reported 78,000 applications sounds impressive, it is technically an overstatement at this point. The application process requires applicants to pay a fee and upload a video expressing why he or she wants to go to Mars permanently. NewSpace Journal recently interviewed Mars One CEO and co-founder Bas Lansdorp and asked him about the 78,000 figure. Lansdorp explained that, in the application process, “People register, they pay, they start filling out their information, they have the movie to make, the movie to upload.” Lansdorp then clarified that the 78,000 figure represents the number of people who have “at least done the first step.”

Mars One plans to establish the first colony on Mars in 2023. And searching for life on Mars will be part of the research these colonists will conduct.

Mars One will continue to accept applications until August 31, 2013. The applicants will be reviewed and narrowed down to 50-100 candidates. The company explains that “four rounds make the selection process, which will come to an end in 2015; Mars One will then employ 28-40 candidates, who will train for around 7 years. Finally an audience vote will elect one of groups in training to be the envoys of humanity to Mars.”

About Jason McClellan

Jason McClellan is a UFO journalist and the producer/co-host of the web series Spacing Out! He is also the web content manager and staff writer for OpenMinds.tv, and a co-organizer and technical producer of the International UFO Congress. As a founding member of Open Minds, Jason served as a writer and editor for the now defunct Open Minds magazine. He has appeared on Syfy, NatGeo, and, most recently, he co-starred on H2's Hangar 1: The UFO Files. ------ Follow Jason on Twitter @acecentric and subscribe to Jason's updates on Facebook.

5 comments

  1. Sounds like a really bad movie. Hopefully a psychological screening, training in sensory depravation chambers, and knowledge in vital areas will be addressed with the candidates as they progress.

  2. Most will be killed or die, the project need very careful exploration first, and 8months plus to get there is a no, no they would be well advised to wait for better engines to get them there quicker and the descent would highly dangerous

  3. Kanisha Guyton

    Send them people who are on death row. Hell they gonna die anyway.

  4. No one under 60 should be considered. Send the people that have lived the majority of their lives and can. without regret, begin to forge the future. It has always been my dream, my close encounter.

  5. Whether or not the actual Mars part of this project pans out, we’ll have to wait and see. The interesting part will be the training required. Eight years ahead of time. Really? People will likely be asked to live in the kind of scenario likely to happen on Mars, to see what happens…and it’ll become something to watch on TV. Cabin fever might set in. Go to Mars and never return to Earth? For the rest of your life? That’s a long, unfathomable commitment.

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