“That’s one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.”

The famous words from the first man on the moon, Neil Armstrong. The Apollo 11 mission to the moon was such an important milestone for space exploration for all of mankind.

Another of-out-of-this-world milestone (lame pun definitely intended) was the discovery of water on Mars. For a while, scientists have assumed that there was water on Mars, but it has only recently been confirmed. (NASA tells us all about it here.) I guess the interest in water on Mars sparked significant interest, because NASA, along with many business developers and engineers have helped make the Mars One Mission a reality.

I’m really shocked at how many people haven’t even heard of the Mars One Mission, so I decided to bring attention to the project.

Mars One is a non-profit project that gives worthy applicants a one-way ticket to Mars. Like, humans are going there and they’re never coming back to Earth. (Well, probably not.) In 2011, the design and procedure for the mission was implemented, and preparation has commenced since completion of the design. Engineers have been constructing the life support systems and settlements where the astronauts will be living.

Three years ago, in 2013, the astronaut selection process took place. Applicants had to initially apply online. From there, the finalists were then interviewed via video chat, then in person. The applicants that were selected from the interviews had to undergo physical aptitude tests, simulations and challenges. Ultimately, at the end of the astronaut selection process, there are six groups of four astronauts selected for the mission who proved skilled enough to take part in Mars One. These 24 individuals will be sent to Mars to live and won’t return back to Earth.

Next year, in 2017, the applicants that were selected will begin their training before being shipped off to Mars. They will train in Mars-simulated locations to test their ability to work together and sustain in undesirable and difficult environments for long periods of time. The first location will be easy to access in case the candidates need assistance. Later, the groups will be relocated to a more remote location with conditions that will really challenge the astronauts.

In 2020, a satellite will be released into Mars’ orbital field so there can be constant communication between Earth and Mars.

In 2022, a rover will be sent to Mars in order to pick the best location for the living units to be built. Once the location is determined, the rover will clear the space and prepare it for incoming equipment.

In 2024, the living units, life support units, and other necessary supplies for human life will be sent to Mars.

In 2025, the living units will be assembled and properly prepped before humans arrive on Mars. For example, they will have the life support units, water, oxygen, and appropriate atmospheric pressures set in all of the units.

In 2026, 25 years after the initial launch of the Mars One Mission establishment, humans will finally land on mars. After 2 decades of preparation and training, these astronauts will set off for their new life on Mars. It will take about 8 months for the first crew to get there. A few weeks after the first crew gets there, the equipment for the second crew will be sent to Mars. Crews will land on Mars every 2 years to allow the community to grow, so the second crew should arrive in Mars in 2029.

All the dates and years picked for each of the parts of the Mars One Mission was purposely selected based on the positions of Earth and Mars during that time. It has all been strategically planned out.

So, this is a basic summary of what Mars One is all about. I don’t know about you, but when I first heard about Mars One, I immediately had a thousand questions swimming through my head.

Where is all this money coming from? How are they going to get electricity and food? What if they get sick? Do these astronauts have family? Is it safe? Is this even ethical? What’s the point??? So. Many. Questions.

Now, some people won’t agree, but I think the idea of going to Mars is amazing. I have also been super fascinated by the enormity and mysteries of space and the science behind space travel. I wouldn’t personally take a one-way ticket to Mars myself, but to those astronauts who are willing to go, props to them. I have the utmost respect for these individuals. I’m not sure if they have family or not, but it’s difficult enough to move from city to city, let alone go to another planet?! And for the rest of their lives... it’s admirable to say the least.

The Mars One Mission could be the start of so many future initiatives and projects to learn more about space and other life forms. If you think about it, at the beginning of time, we knew absolutely nothing. Everything had to have been discovered by someone at some point, even something as simple as a zipper on our jackets, or how to tie our shoe laces, and pretty much everything in between! Physically going to Mars and getting hands on experience on this foreign planet is the best way to make discoveries and learn about everything that Mars has to teach us.

The cost of the initial crew to make it to Mars is $6 million USD. It will cost another $4 million USD for each additional crew that goes to Mars. I have no idea where the majority of the money is coming from to fund this mission, but I am assuming that most of the money comes from donations, sponsors, and merchandise that they sell to promote the mission.

I'm almost positive they wouldn't send humans to mars if they didn’t think they were capable of sustaining life on the planet. It has obviously been well thought out for years and years and every angle of the project has been examined by experts in the field. The individuals will train for over 2 decades, learning what to do when someone gets sick or injured, how to get appropriate nutrients, and how to survive in conditions that aren’t ideal.

Sending humans off to Mars could easily spark controversy. Some people don’t think it’s ethical to basically send people off to Mars just so they will die there. The way Mars One explains it… Europeans agreed to move to Australia back in the day, and that agreement didn’t come with a return ticket to Europe. They did end up returning to Europe, so who says that the crew won’t one day end up coming back to Earth? I say, as long as these individuals know what they are getting themselves into, and they are 100% okay with it (which they should be, since they applied for the position in the first place), there isn’t an issue with giving humans a one-way ticket to Mars.

So what’s the point?
Maybe to cure our curiosity about what kind of life there is on Mars, or to find out if we are seriously capable of sustaining life on another planet.
Maybe to progress as human beings. We will gain so much more experience and knowledge that we wouldn’t have been able to gain by simply observing planets through rovers.
Some people believe that the declining conditions on Earth (e.g. melting polar ice caps, ozone depletion, excessive fossil fuel use) are causing experts to search for alternative places to live when life on Earth begins to crumble.

I couldn’t have possibly covered every aspect of what Mars One is all about, and I definitely couldn’t have answered all the questions there are to answer in this short article, but if you go to Mars One’s website you can learn so much about the mission. (The FAQ section is extremely informative!) The website is constantly updated with new findings on living on Mars and the candidates that will be sent to Mars.

So it looks like this is really going to happen… humans are going to live on Mars. We were born into an incredible millennium of technological advancements, and it’s amazing to be alive during such a historical and significant moment in history. The possibilities on where to go from here are endless.