Source: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2418860,00.aspNearly 80,000 people have applied to become Mars colonists in the two weeks since Mars One opened up the application period for its astronaut selection program, the Dutch non-profit said this week.
Mars One said it has received roughly 78,000 applications from citizens of more than 120 countries since April 22, each bidding to join a proposed four-person crew which would embark upon a one-way trip to Mars in 2023.
Applicants have been sending in one-minute audition tapes explaining why Mars One should select them for the mission as part of a "global reality television series" the non-profit plans to produce to help fund its space missions and whittle down the applicant pool.
"With 78,000 applications in two weeks, this is turning out to be the most desired job in history. These numbers put us right on track for our goal of half a million applicants. Mars One is a mission representing all humanity and its true spirit will be justified only if people from the entire world are represented. I'm proud that this is exactly what we see happening," Bas Lansdorp, co-founder and CEO of Mars One, said in a statement.
The application period will remain open through Aug. 31. Once completed, space industry experts will narrow down the candidate list, but the final selection of the first four colonists to make the proposed trip to Mars will come down to an audience vote following a TV series modeled after televised talent shows like American Idol.
"Applicants we have received come from a very wide range of personalities, professions and ages. This is significant because what we are looking for is not restricted to a particular background. From Round 1 we will take forward the most committed, creative, resilient and motivated applicants," Mars One chief medical officer Dr. Norbert Kraft said.
The first round in the four-round selection process will reduce the applicant pool to between 50 and 100 candidates, according to Mars One. The entire process will be concluded by 2015, at which time as many as 40 finalists will be asked to join Mars One for seven years of training ahead of a series of Mars missions aimed at establishing a permanent colony on the planet.
Mars One said applicants from the United States numbered 17,324, with China (10,241) and the United Kingdom (3,581) also providing large numbers of would-be Mars colonists. Other countries with significant numbers of applicants included Russia, Mexico, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Argentina, and India, the space venture said.
Many of the applicants have allowed Mars One to post their audition tapes online. You can check them out here.
