Goodbye Earth, Hello Mars

ANGELA YANG
Editor in Chief

The possibility of living in space has always been a distant reality. However, with recent advancements in space exploration and research, this fantasy has finally come close to fruition. Mars One, a nonprofit organization, has dedicated itself to establishing a human colony on Mars by 2025.

In 2011, founders Bas Lansdorp and Arno Wielders collaborated to discuss the feasibility of settling on Mars. They eventually made it their mission statement to settle on Mars by 2025 through a process of training their selected astronauts in 2015, planning a demonstration mission for 2018 and launching a communication satellite by 2020, amongst other things.

Some common criticisms of the project have been the availability of funding, as the founders intended to raise funds through television rights and sponsorship deals, according to the Mars One-Offical Site. Other criticisms suggest that the astronauts cannot handle the radiation exposure, that they cannot land safely and that the time roadmap created will be delayed. Despite these criticisms, many hopefuls still believe in this project, with over 200,000 people from over 140 countries applying to fill the astronaut positions.