First 1,000 space flyers hoping to live on the Red Planet selected by Mars One project (with the oldest aged 81)

The first group of people to have the chance of starting a new colony on Mars by 2023 have been selected.
Mars One picked 1,058 people to progress to the next round in its search for humans who want to be the first to live, and die, on the Red Planet.
The hopefuls, who are all over the age of 18, will be shortlisted into a final group of 40 before training starts in 2018.

Among those to make the first cut were 297 applicants from America. Hopefuls will be shortlisted into a final group of 40 before training begins. The robotic mission to the Red Planet will launch in January 2018 with plans to send a colony of humans to Mars by 2023. This illustration shows what the settlement would look like

THE MARS ONE LAUNCH SCHEDULE

The Mars One project needs to raise $400,000 (£245,000) by 25 January to fund its plans.
Once enough funding has been raised, the Dutch firm plans to launch a supply mission to land on Mars as soon as October 2016.
A ‘settlement rover’ will then land in 2018.
The landing systems will be tested eight times before they are used to transport humans - a move that Mars One said will make the trips ‘much safer than moon missions’.
The group said it aims to have a human settlement on Mars within a decade.
Journey time to Mars, which is approximately 40 million miles away depending on its position in orbit, would be around 200 days.
The £4bn project, founded in 2010 by engineer Bas Lansdorp, is set to recoup its costs by selling the broadcasting rights to the mission - by comparison, Nasa's rover Curiosity cost £1.8 billion.

More than 200,000 people applied for a one-way ticket to Mars in a bid to become one of the first colonists, who are expected to settle on the planet by 2023.

 

A total of 297 of the candidates to make the first cut are from the U.S. while 75 are Canadian.
India was the next best represented country with 62 candidates, followed by Russia with 52, although the project originally set out to source applicants from 107 different countries.
Almost 77 per cent of the people selected are employed, while 15 per cent are still at school, CBS reported.
Some 357 people are not yet 25, while 415 have not yet celebrated their 35th birthday.
The oldest person to make it to the next round is 81, which means they will be 90 when the settlement lands.
Each was asked to explain why they would leave behind their loved ones and revealed what they would take in their suitcase if they were chosen to be shortlisted.
Bas Landorp, co-founder of the Mars One project, said the candidates are the first tangible glimpse of what a new human settlement will look like.
‘We’re extremely appreciative and impressed with the sheer number of people who submitted their applications,’ he said.
‘However, the challenge with 200,000 applicants is separating those who we feel are physically and mentally adept to become human ambassadors on Mars from those who are obviously taking the mission much less seriously.
'We even had a couple of applicants submit their videos in the nude!’

The Dutch-based project wants to launch a supply mission to land on Mars by October 2016. The landing systems will be tested eight times before they are used to transport humans - a move that Mars One said will make the trips 'much safer than moon missions'

Chief Medical Officer of Mars One, Dr Norbert Kraft, said the next selection phases this year and in 2015 will include ’rigorous simulations, many in team settings, with focus on testing the physical and emotional capabilities of our remaining candidates’.
‘We expect to begin understanding what is motivating our candidates to take this giant leap for humankind.
‘This is where it really gets exciting for Mars One, our applicants and the communities they’re a part of,’ he added.
Mr Lansdorp said: ‘We fully anticipate our remaining candidates to become celebrities in their towns, cities, and in many cases, countries. It’s about to get very interesting.’
Applicants who were not selected can still reapply at a later date, which has not yet been announced.

The Mars lander and rover, illustration pictured, will be built by Lockheed Martin. This lander design will be based on the successful Mars lander used in the 2007 NASA Phoenix mission, which was also built and tested by Maryland-based firm

Mr Lansdorp said: ‘U.S. astronaut Clayton Anderson was rejected by Nasa for its astronaut training programme 15 times, yet in 2007 he boarded the Space Shuttle Atlantis for a trip to the International Space Station. He proved anything can happen and the door is never completely closed.’
It was announced just before Christmas that in less than five years, a communications satellite could be installed on Mars to stream live images from the settlement into homes on Earth.
This would mean millions of eagle-eyed space enthusiasts could scour the live images for signs of alien life, or track changes in the weather, according to Mr Lansdorp.
The satellite is part of the wider Mars One mission set to launch in January 2018 and will be built by Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) - the company which was announced as one of the official partners of the plans just last week.

In less than five years we could be live streaming images from Mars straight into our homes under plans to install a communications satellite, artist illustration pictured, on the Red Planet. The satellite is part of the wider Mars One mission set to launch in January 2018

It will provide a 'high bandwidth communications system in a Mars synchronous orbit' and will be used to relay data and a live video feed from the lander on the surface of Mars back to Earth.
Mars One is said to have paid SSTL $60,000 (£36,00) to design what will be the first 'geostationary' satellite on the planet.
The Mars lander will then be built by Lockheed Martin.
This lander design will be based on the successful Mars lander used in the 2007 NASA Phoenix mission, which was also built and tested by Maryland-based firm. 

 

 The satellite, artist impression pictured, will provide a 'high bandwidth communications system' to send data and live video back to Earth

 

Speaking at a news conference in December, Mr Lansdorp said: 'Anyone with internet access will be able to see what the weather's like on Mars.'
The robotic mission to the Red Planet will launch in January 2018 - two years later than initially planned.
This unmanned mission is designed to explore and collect information about the planet with a view to launching a manned mission and setting up a Mars colony.  

Mars One recently launched an IndieGoGo crowd-funding campaign.
The project raised $10,000 (£6,121) in the first hour and is currently at $111,881 (£67,496). The project is asking for a total of $400,000 (£245,000) and needs to raise this by 25 January.
The £4bn project, founded in 2010 by engineer Bas Lansdorp, is set to recoup its costs by selling the broadcasting rights to the mission.
By comparison, Nasa's rover Curiosity cost £1.8 billion.
The landing systems of the craft will be tested eight times before they are used to transport humans - a move that Mars One said will make the trips ‘much safer than moon missions’.
The applicants have agreed to stay on the red planet for the rest of their lives - and be filmed for a reality TV programme.
Viewers would vote for who should be on the first team of four to leave Earth in ten years’ time. By 2033 the colony would reach 20 settlers.

The hopefuls, who will be shortlisted into a group of 40 before their training starts, said why they would leave behind their loved ones and revealed what they would take in their suitcase if they were chosen.
By 2015, the selected candidates will start an eight-year training regime where they will learn to deal with long periods of isolation.

In 2021 all the components of the settlement reach their destination in six separate landers. Two living units, two life support units, a second supply unit, and another rover arrive on Mars

The majority of applicants for the one-way trip to Mars came from the United States, with India and China coming in second and third place.
The second round will include an interview with Mars One committee members, and candidates advancing to the third round will compete against one another.
The third round will include a series of challenges to prepare candidates for the potential mission and will be broadcast on television and online.

The group said it aims to have a human settlement on Mars within a decade.

Journey time to Mars, which is approximately 40 million miles away depending on its position in orbit, would be around 200 days.

 Culled from DAILY MAIL