More than 200,000 people from 140 countries have applied to go to Mars and never return

Thursday, September 12, 2013

More than 200,000 people from 140 countries have applied to go to Mars and never return

Space Cadets line up for one-way Mars trip

by Staff Writers
Washington (AFP) Sept 09, 2013

More than 200,000 people from 140 countries have applied to go to Mars and never return, the group behind an ambitious venture to colonize the inhospitable red planet said Monday.
Bas Lansdorp, a Dutch engineer and entrepreneur, plans to establish a permanent base on Mars in a mission he hopes will take off in 2022 if he can find the necessary $6 billion.
One in four of the 202,586 applicants for the one-way trip are Americans, said Mars One, the non-profit group which initiated its hunt for "would-be Mars settlers" in April.
There are also hopefuls from India (10 percent), China (six percent) and Brazil (five percent), among other countries, it said.
By 2015, Mars One expects put up to 10 four-member teams through intensive training, with the first of those teams reaching to Mars in 2023 on a high-risk journey that would take seven months to complete.

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