Mars One Could Turn Out to Be Mars Zero

Mars One, a Dutch nonprofit organization aiming to land the first humans on Mars and establish a space colony by 2025, appears to have run into trouble.

Astrophysicist Joseph Roche, one of the 100 shortlisted candidates, was excited about the project until recently.

However, his disposition has soured. At best, things are not quite what they appear to be, according to Roche.

Roche pointed to an assessment of the Mars One mission by a team of MIT students led by Sydney Do, a Ph.D. candidate in aeronautics and astronautics, whose thesis focuses on planetary colonization. The team's assessment concludes, in essence, that the project is not feasible within its established parameters.

Mars One did not engage with that team, which caused Roche concern.

Further, Mars One claimed to receive applications from 200,000 people, when the actual number was 2,761, he pointed out.

The candidate selection process was not rigorous enough, Roche also said, and rankings were influenced by how much candidates donated to the project.

Candidates were encouraged to donate 75 percent of any fees received for interviews to the organization. Project costs, by Mars One's own admission, will run into the billions of dollars.

"I think anyone close to the space program knew this was unrealistic," said Jim McGregor, principal analyst at Tirias Research.

"There are major challenges to colonizing another planet, some of which scientists are still working to overcome," he told TechNewsWorld, "but the concept is built on a fantasy that many people, including myself, would love to believe in."

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Mars One Could Turn Out to Be Mars Zero