The threat of human extinction has triggered in people’s mind for a long time now, and thus it has now turned out to be not just an option, but a necessity to extend human civilization to other planets.
Mars is known to be the closest planet to earth that can support life. Ever since the first spacecraft sent to Mars in 1960, scientists have been researching and experimenting lots of things in the red planet and after several years of hard work, they have concluded that human colonization might ultimately be possible on Mars.
Mars One is one of such projects and it’s happening in less than a decade now (2024).
Over 200,000 people have applied for the mission, and the number is only growing. And why not? Who wouldn’t want to go to Mars, right? However, before rushing to the applications, one must be aware of few things about the Mars One’s Mars Colonization Mission. Here are some of them.
1. It’s going to be a one-way ticket.
Though the idea of flying to Mars might sound intriguing, anyone who decides to do so should understand that it’s a one-way ticket, which means there’s no coming back to Earth. Once you leave Earth and go there, that’s where you’re going to die. Scientists, however, are trying to solve this little kink, so people who wish to return will be able to do so. But till now, there hasn’t been any significant updates on it.
2. The Selection process is harsh.
Since anyone can apply for the Mars One mission online, it might seem as if they are just appointing ordinary people who are interested in going to Mars and the selection would be quite easy. But that’s not the case. It contains extensive training periods of combined skill sets and very wide range of disciplines. Candidates will be put through harsh, remote mocked-up Mars habitats to examine how they cope in such situations. In the end, out of thousands of people, they will be selecting only 24 people, who will be divided into six groups each of four astronauts to train for the mission.
3. There’s no Internet on Mars
Yup! There will be no Internet on Mars. No Facebook, no Instagram, no easy communication! It will take 3 to 22 minutes to transfer information to Earth from Mars and at least 6 minutes to get a reply to a text. So communicating with friends and family back home is out of the question. Mars One says that the astronauts will, however, be able to access few of their favorite websites that will be selected and downloaded to the Mars web server from the Earth. But other than that, there isn’t much one will be able to do.
4. You’ll have to risk your life
Since the first mission to Mars will be an experimental one, no one is quite sure if it the existence of life on the red planet is 100% possible; it means that there is the possibility of death. Even though hundreds of experiments and researches being done show the definite possibility of life there, they cannot assure it with full guarantee since it’s not been accurately tested yet.
5. Your body might get severely messed up.
Human bodies aren’t biologically fit for space. Because of the microgravity effects on human bodies that can cause bone deterioration and muscles loss- astronauts currently are permitted to spend only a maximum of 180 days, i.e. six months approx, at a time on the International Space Station. Astronauts are required to exercise at least 2-3 hours a day to cope with that time limit. Also, since the time difference between Earth and Mars is 40 minutes, it might cause some serious problems adjusting to the time. Though it doesn’t look like a huge time gap, one will notice the difference it makes once they’ve lived there for 24 hours.
6. And your brain will too.
The idea of traveling all the way to an entirely different planet and being the first humans to settle on Mars sounds great. But along with that, you’re leaving your family, your friends, and EVERYONE else on earth. You will be 225 million miles away from Earth. Once you get to Mars, you’ll not ever even be able to see Earth. Earth will only be a star on Mars, just as the Mars is a start on Earth. It can cause psychological problems which include depression, anxiety, mood swings, among others.
So if you think you can handle all these, APPLY.