Wanted: Astronauts for one-way trip to Mars

By Rob Coppinger Space.com LONDON A nonprofit organization that aims to land four astronauts on Mars in 2023 will kick off its two-year, televised search for Red Planet explorers this summer. The Netherlands-based Mars One will begin accepting application videos in July, charging a fee to weed out folks who aren't serious about their candidacy. The group hopes to raise millions of dollars this way, with the proceeds paying for the ongoing selection process and technology studies. "We expect a million applications with 1-minute videos, and hopefully some of those videos will go viral, Mars One co-founder and chief executive officer Bas Lansdorp told Space.com on April 10. He was in London to speak to the British Interplanetary Society (BIS) that day. Mars One now has 45,000 people registered for its mailing list and has already received 10,000 emails from interested individuals, Lansdorp added. A one-way trip to Mars Mars One is casting a wide net, seeking applicants from all over the world. Application fees will vary from country to country, with folks from poorer nations getting a price break, Lansdorp said. The maximum fee will apparently be $25. Anyone who is at least 18 years old can apply by sending in a video explaining why he or she should be selected. But prospective colonists must be prepared to say goodbye to Earth forever; there are no plans at this point to bring Mars One astronauts home. By July 2015, Mars One wants to have 24 astronauts, organized into six teams of four people. Those teams then face seven years of training that will include spending three months at a time in a replica of the Mars colony. "We will give them all the most stressful situations, Lansdorp told the BIS audience, adding that the training base will have a 40-minute communications delay to replicate the time lag that would exist due to the vast distance between Earth and Mars. Mars One officials expect some individuals and teams to fail these tests, so from 2015 on, the nonprofit will have an annual process to select 12 people (in three teams of four). "We will always have about 10 groups (of four) in training, so if one group drops out, there will be replacement crews," Lansdorp told Space.com. This will continue even after 2023, because Mars One plans to send more colonists to the Red Planet every two years for as long as funding levels will allow.

Interplanetary 'Big Brother' Mars One estimates that it needs $6 billion to send the first four astronauts to Mars. This money will cover developing the landing systems, habitats, Mars Transit Vehicle (MTV), rovers, solar arrays and other technologies associated with the colony, as well as pay for the crew's journey from Earth. Every subsequent crew trip would cost $4 billion, Lansdorp told Space.com. Just sending a supply lander would cost $250 million. Mars One plans to raise this money largely through a global reality television series that will follow the colonization effort from astronaut selection to the first landing and the settlements expansion. The audience will vote for who gets to go to Mars from a pool of candidates selected by Mars Ones experts. Lansdorp points to the 2012 London Olympics and the $4 billion it generated from television revenues over its three weeks as evidence that such a funding plan can work. Meanwhile, the application video revenue will finance early technology studies and prove there is demand for a television show. ['Big Brother' on Mars? (Video)] We can prove to the broadcasters that there is real demand and interest, and we will start negotiations after the (astronaut) selection procedure begins, Lansdorp said. Beyond the applicant videos and television show, future revenues include crowdfunding, exploiting the technologies developed for Earths markets and doing research on Mars for governments. For example, Mars One could eventually send samples of Martian soil to Earth, officials say. Mission details taking shape While the Mars spacecraft has yet to be designed, Lansdorp told the BIS audience that for the 210-day journey, the vehicle would have a hollow 660-gallon (2,500 liters) water tank with four compartments. Astronauts would sleep in this area and use it as shelter from extreme solar radiation events. When the first team of four lands at the settlements location on April 24, 2023, the settlers will find a colony whose habitats and solar arrays started working before they left Earth.. The colonys habitats will be connected by fabric tunnels and covered in 6 feet (1.8 m) of Martian soil, to provide radiation protection. Lansdorp told the BIS audience that with the colonys expected outdoor activities, the colonists will get a radiation dose over 10 years equal to that of ESAs maximum allowed for its astronauts, which he described as very safe." The colony will have inflatable greenhouses and use water from the Martian soil and nitrogen from the atmosphere to grow crops. The crew will cultivate rice, algae and insects for their high protein content and will also likely grow mushrooms, along with tomatoes and other plants.