200,000 People Sign Up For One Way Ticket To Mars

December 10, 2013

Photo: mars-one.com

The Mars One Foundation is moving forward with it's plan to colonize Mars. Over 200,000 people applied to make the one way trip to the red planet. This mission does not offer a ticket home.

Mars One has funded an unmanned mission in 2018 that will involve a robotic lander and a communications satellite. If all goes well, the first people on Mars could be in 2025.

Photo: mars-one.com

Lockheed Martin has been contracted to assist in the unmanned mission. "The opportunity to participate in that is just really exciting," said Ed Sedivy, a chief engineer at Lockheed Martin Space Systems.

The technology for a return flight home does not exist, which also helps reduce costs. The total estimated budget for getting the first four humans to Mars is $6 billion.

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