A non-profit Dutch organization announced the conditions by which 100 volunteers will be selected for the colonization of Mars.
Applicants between the ages of 19 and 60 were selected from among the 660 semi-finalists from all over the world. In the next round, candidates will demonstrate their ability to work in a team in order to qualify for the final 24 places. The purpose of Mars One is to launch the first crew, consisting of four people to Mars in 2024.
"You can be one of the best individual candidates, but that does not mean that you will become the best in the team. So I look forward to the results of the experiment," said Norbert Kraft, doctor of the Mars One mission, in a statement.
The cost of the Mars One project is estimated by experts at $ 6 billion for the first flight and about $ 4 billion for each subsequent flight. The purpose of the mission is to establish the initial strength of the colony at 24.
But researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have concluded that the concept of the project is wrong. "For example, the Mars One project stipulates that all food will be obtained from grown crops, which implies raising the oxygen level to a critical value. To avoid this, it is necessary to implement an excess oxygen removal system, which has not been used in space before that moment" said the researchers in a statement.
The use of drinking water produced by evaporation from Martian soil is another technological problem. Researchers are also puzzled by how many tons of provisions a Mars One rocket will be able to capture in one launch and whether it will be enough until the next arrival.
According to the space news this week, contractors Lockheed Martin and Surrey Satellite Technology completed the development of satellite communications and the descent module for the Mars One project, but did not conclude contracts for future work.
Earlier, Mars One representatives said that the mission will begin in 2018.
