Mars One (a Dutch non-profit that claims to have the first colony on Mars by 2025,) has been making a series of promises and forecasts that do not make sense. A growing number of laypeople, almost all of them experts and the one candidate who was shortlisted for the mission, are expressing concern. Five years ago, the plan was to send a maximum of 20 humans to Mars. They stay there once they get there. They will never return. They’ll live there until their deaths. It is possible to wonder who could be so crazy as to pay for a ticket to Mars, a hostile environment that can reach millions of miles. According to Mars One, 200,000 people applied. The Guardian claims that the actual number of applicants was less than one-hundredth what Mars One claimed – only 2 ,176.. The Dutch organisation informs that training will begin for a shortlist of 100 individuals later in the year. Training will begin in Mars Settlement simulations on Earth later this year to assess how qualified 100 are for the mission. Image: Mars One. The total cost of Mars One’s mission is not affordable. According to Mars One the costs of sending 20 humans to Mars and setting up a colony there will be just $6 billion. This works out to about EUR5 billion. 66 billion). This number is simply wrong, according to experts around the world. Former Mars One consultant Gerard “tHooft”, a Dutch theoretical physicist, and professor at Utrecht University, in the Netherlands says that the timing and pricing are far off. NASA quoted a Mars mission for 2009 more than $100 trillion, but with far fewer people than 20 – this was even without setting up infrastructure to support a permanent colony. Mars One claims its rocket will use only existing technology in order to send the 20 humans to Mars to establish a colony. Image: Mars One. How are they going to fund this whole thing? Mars One claims it will rely on crowdfunding to make the entire mission a reality television show in Big Brother style. Now, the TV series is less likely after Endomol’s subsidiary walked out of talks. In its last crowdfunding campaign, which aimed to raise just $440,000, the target was not met. One of the candidates shortlisted, Dr. Joseph Roche (a former NASA scientist who spoke to Elmo Keep on Medium’s Matter blog), said that candidates can earn points in order to reach the last twenty. They earn even more points if they purchase Mars One merchandise and donate interview fees. Mars One stated to Dr. Roche that it offered interview fees and merchandise to shortlisted candidates. Mars One asks that you donate 75% of any profit made to it. Mars One says they will launch an initial robotic scouting mission to 2018.. It has so far not reached out to aerospace suppliers about this. Many people start to question whether this whole endeavor is a hoax or a fraud. Video: Mars One Q&A Ryan MacDonald (Mars One Astronaut Candidate) speaks with Dr. Norbert Kraft, the Head of Mars One’s Astronaut Selection Committee. How did you determine who was selected for Mars One’s Round 2 interview? What will happen in Round 3? What’s in store for Mars 100?? Dr. Kraft answers YOUR questions.
