Mars One – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the one-way manned trip to Mars planned for 2024. For the first Soviet spacecraft for Mars, see Mars 1. For other uses, see Mars 1 (disambiguation).

Mars One is a not-for-profit organization based in the Netherlands that has put forward conceptual plans to establish a permanent human colony on Mars by 2025. The private spaceflight project is led by Dutch entrepreneur Bas Lansdorp, who announced plans for the Mars One mission in May 2012.[1]

Mars One's current concept includes launching four carefully selected applicants in a Mars-bound spaceflight in 2024, to become the first residents of Mars, and that every step of the crews journey will be documented for a reality television program.

Planning of Mars One already started in 2011 in discussions between the two founders, Bas Lansdorp and Arno Wielders. The feasibility of the idea was consequently researched with specialists and expert organizations, which discussed the financial, psychological and ethical aspects of it.[2]

Mars One initially publically announced plans for a one-way trip to Mars in May 2012, with a notional plan for an initial robotic precursor mission in 2016, and transporting the first human colonists to Mars in 2023.

The initial mission plan included:[3]

Mars One selected a second-round pool of astronaut candidates in 2013 of 1058 people"586 men and 472 women from 107 countries"from a larger number of some 200,000 who showed interest on the Mars One website.

In December 2013, Mars One announced plans for a robotic precursor mission in 2018, two years later than had been conceptually planned in the 2012 announcements. The robotic lander is to be "built by Lockheed Martin based on the design used for NASAs Phoenix and InSight missions, as well as a communications orbiter built by Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd."[7] Contracts started in late 2013 were merely study contracts, and plans have not been disclosed to raise the US$200 million or more needed to support the robotic mission.[7]

Mars One announced a partnership with Uwingu on 3 March 2014, stating that the program would use Uwingu's map of Mars in all of their planned missions.[8][9]Kristian von Bengtson began work on Simulation Mars Home for crew on 24 March 2014.

The second-round pool was whittled down to 705 candidates (418 men and 287 women) in the beginning of May 2014. 353 were removed either for medical reasons or due to personal considerations.[10] These selected persons will then begin the interview process following which several teams of two men and two women will be compiled. The teams will then begin training full-time for a future mission to Mars, while individuals and teams may be selected out during training if they are not deemed suitable for the mission.[10]

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Mars One - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia