As crazy as it may sound and despite knowing that the journey has no return, a total 202.586 people have applied for the Mars One Project.
The applicants will be downsized to 50 males and 50 females, waiting to be the “chosen ones” for the private sector mission, which intends to take the crew on a one-way space trip to the Red Planet.
The mission to Mars that will be financed by a reality show. Applicants will undergo a few more selection stages and, according to Mars One, “will focus on the composition of teams that can withstand all the difficulties of a permanent establishment on Mars.”
The entire process of selection and preparation will last eight years and the mission of the selected crew will occur in 2025 — as per the company’s timetable. The mission aims to send crews of four every four years, totaling, in the end, 40 people on the barren fourth planet from the sun.
According to the list, the majority of the applicants are from the United States, 31 from Europe, 16 from Asia, seven from Africa and seven from Australia.
