Category Archives: Mars Colonization

Sonia Van Meter is the managing director of Stanford Caskey, a national Democratic opposition research firm. She's also one of 100 candidates selected by Mars One for Martian colonization in 2025. Many are skeptical of Mars One's prospects; many (like Buzz Aldrin) hope the mission succeeds. Regardless, Mars is the future that Sonia is preparing for, and we spoke on the phone last week.

I'm so excited to talk to you about this. I'm so jealous.

Oh, I'm so glad to get to talk to you, too. So much of what I've been asked is how I could possibly leave my husband and family, how I could stand to be such a horrible woman. I would love for this story to be told with a hint of a feminist perspective for once.

There are plenty of other women in the Mars 100, right?

49 other women!

Do you think they're all getting this reaction?

I think a few of them probably have. Although there are a lot of single women, and I don't know how many of the other women have children who are young.

There are certainly plenty of men and women who are married, anyway. But I might be one of the candidates who has younger children, even thoughnot to be coldmy children are stepchildren, and they do have two biological parents who will take care of them. And in 2024 they're going to be 21 and 24. It's not like I'm leaving infants to twist in the wind. As an ancillary parent, I feel like it's incumbent upon me to demonstrate to them that there's no reason why they shouldn't pursue their dreams.

What did it feel like when you found out you were part of the Mars 100?

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A Chat with Sonia Van Meter, Woman Preparing for a One-Way Trip to Mars

Travel to Mars | 100 people on shortlist for Mars #39;colony #39;
Colonization Of Mars: Two Britons are among the 100 people shortlisted worldwide to take a one-way trip to Mars to set up the first human colony. Thanks for comment, subscribe to updates http://goo...

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Travel to Mars | 100 people on shortlist for Mars 'colony' - Video

Let #39;s Play Sol 0-Mars Colonization #009 [Deutsch] - Die Katastrophe
Tja in dieser Folge passiert mir ein fataler Fehler :/ Ob wir den wieder ausbgeln knnen? Das seht ihr in dieser Folge. Weitere Folgen und Infos auf http://www.myn...

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Let's Play Sol 0-Mars Colonization #009 [Deutsch] - Die Katastrophe - Video

WASHINGTON (WJLA) Would you leave Earth for a possible life on Mars?

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It may sound like science fiction, but a Dutch nonprofit is working to pursue the ambitious goal of sending people to Mars.

It's well known that there are hazards on the red planet. There are the extreme temperatures, lack of atmosphere and radiation from the sun. However, the Mars One project believes that it will be possible to send people to the planet by 2024. It already plans to send a demonstration mission to Mars in 2018.

The project asked for volunteers who would be willing to go. More than 200,000 people applied. Now, the final 100 have been chosen, including four people within the Washington metropolitan area. They are: Mike McDonnell, 50, of Fairfax, Va.; Sonia Van Meter, 36, of Alexandria, Va.; Daniel Carey, 53, of Annandale, Va.; and Dr. Leila Zucker, 46.

McDonnell does IT for the federal government, Van Meter is a political consultant, Carey is a data architect, and Dr. Zucker is an ER doctor at Howard University Hospital. ABC 7 News sat down and spoke with three of the final candidates.

"I just wanted to know that I had thrown my hat into the ring when the opportunity presented itself. I didn't in a million years think I would make it here," said Van Meter. "I am a political consultant, but I am a huge space advocate. I believe very firmly that space exploration benefits human kind in immeasurable ways."

Van Meter is married and has stepchildren, whom she said are supportive of her endeavors. She said it's important to think about the big picture.

"I think a date that you know you may never see the planet again helps you to look at the next 10 years like, what is really important, what do I really want to focus on?" she said.

Van Meter has met with some of the other local candidates, including Dan Carey, who said the opportunity is a lifelong dream.

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Locals compete for chance to colonize Mars | WJLA.com

Sol 0 - Mars Colonization - Season 2 Finale - Part 17 - Last Episode Forever
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Mars One, the Dutch nonprofit enterprise that proposes to start a Mars colony sometime in the early 2020s, announced on Monday the names of the 100 potential astronauts, culled from an initial group of more than 200,000 applicants. The Mars 100, as the group is called, consists of 50 men and 50 women from across the Earth, namely 39 from the Americas, 31 from Europe, 16 from Asia, 7 from Africa, and 7 from Oceania. The plan is to break this group into four-person teams to train in earnest for the task of setting up a Mars colony.

If all goes well, the first four Mars colonist will blast off around the year 2022 and will venture to Mars, never to return. The plan is to send teams of four Mars colonists every 26 months when the window for voyages between Earth and Mars opens up. Eventually, so it is hoped, the Mars colony will be a thriving concern, the subject of the most expensive reality show in the history of television.

The Mars One project has endured criticism from a number of quarters. Some have suggested that its business plan, to finance the scheme from donations and the revenues derived from the reality show, is unrealistic. Even given the fact that the voyage to Mars is a one-way, trip, setting a colony upon another world is a daunting, expensive prospect.

According to a recent story in Extreme Tech, the Mars One project may be a complicated and expensive way for its Mars colonists to commit suicide. Citing a study conducted by researchers at MIT, the first Mars colonist would die of suffocation in 68 days with the rest to follow by dehydration, starvation, or some other cause. The Mars One experts dismiss the study as being based on incomplete and inaccurate information on the architecture of the proposed colony.

Whatever the chances of Mars One even getting off the ground, not to mention accomplishing its goal of making humanity a multi-planet species, the scheme has generated significant interest worldwide. It combines the vision of colonizing space with the method of doing it as a private enterprise. The adventures of the people who want to leave Earth forever will continue to be followed with great interest.

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Mars One chooses 100 people to colonize the Red Planet ...

One hundred people are still in the running to become humanity's first Mars explorers.

The Netherlands-based nonprofit Mars One, which aims to land four pioneers on the Red Planet in 2025 as the vanguard of a permanent colony, has whittled its pool of astronaut candidates down to 100, organization representatives announced Monday (Feb. 16).

More than 202,000 people applied to become Red Planet explorers after Mars One opened the selection process in April 2013. The latest cut came after Mars One medical director Norbert Kraft interviewed the 660 candidates who had survived several previous rounds of culling. [Images of Mars One's Red Planet Colony Project]

"The large cut in candidates is an important step towards finding out who has the right stuff to go to Mars," Mars One co-founder and CEO Bas Lansdorp said in a statement. "These aspiring Martians provide the world with a glimpse into who the modern day explorers will be."

The remaining pool consists of 50 men and 50 women who range in age from 19 to 60, Mars One representatives said. Thirty-nine come from the Americas (including 33 from the United States), 31 from Europe, 16 from Asia, seven from Africa and seven from Australia.

The remaining candidates will next participate in group challenges, to demonstrate their ability and willingness to deal with the rigors of Mars life. After another round of cuts, the finalists will be divided into four-person teams, which will train in a simulated Red Planet outpost.

Eventually, Mars One intends to select 24 astronauts (six four-person teams), who will become full-time employees of the organization and prepare for the Mars colonization mission.

"Being one of the best individual candidates does not automatically make you the greatest team player, so I look forward to seeing how the candidates progress and work together in the upcoming challenges," Kraft said.

Mars One wants to send new four-person crews to the Red Planet every two years or so after the first touchdown, which would take place in 2025. At the moment, there are no plans to bring any of these Mars colonists home to Earth.

Mars One has also mapped out a number of robotic precursor missions to prepare the ground for people. The first of these, which would deliver a lander and orbiter to Mars, is scheduled to blast off in 2018. (Mars One will not build any Mars-bound spacecraft itself, but instead will contract the work out to aerospace companies.)

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Private Mars One Colony Project Cuts Applicant Pool to 100 ...

February 17, 2015

Credit: Thinkstock

Brett Smith for redOrbit.com Your Universe Online

For some people, Earth just isnt working out and an organization called Mars One is looking to send an elite crew of them to set up a colony on the Red Planet in just ten years.

On Monday, the organization announced that it had narrowed down its initial pool of more than 200,000 applicants from around the world to just 100.

The large cut in candidates is an important step towards finding out who has the right stuff to go to Mars, said Bas Lansdorp, co-founder and CEO of Mars One. These aspiring martians (sic) provide the world with a glimpse into who the modern day explorers will be.

Selection was kind of like online dating, but for finding people to travel millions of miles and possibly die alone

Technically in the projects Round Three, the remaining 100 are still standing after being culled from a group of 660 volunteers. To make the latest cut, participants had to pass online interviews with Dr. Norbert Kraft, Mars Ones chief medical officer. Interview questions were designed to gauge candidates understanding of the risks, their team spirit and their desire to emigrate millions of miles to Mars.

We were impressed with how many strong candidates participated in the interview round, which made it a very difficult selection Kraft said.

Surviving candidates include 50 men and 50 women, of which 39 from the Americas, 31 from Europe, 16 from Asia, 7 from Africa, and 7 from Oceania.

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Mars One narrows candidates to final 100