• Seven-month mission to be financed by reality show on Earth
  • By 2033, there will be 20 people living on Mars
  • Mission backed by co-creator of Big Brother and Nobel-winning physicists
  • Reality show on Earth will finance mission

By Rob Waugh

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An independent space launch company aims to put four people on Mars by April 2023 - and the team will not be coming back.

Mars One claims that a new crew of four will join every two years as the explorers build their settlement, and that by 2033 there will be 20 people living on Mars.

The company has been in talks with independent space suppliers such as Space X, which recently launched the first privately owned rocket to the Space Station.

Mars One claims that a new crew of four will join every two years as the explorers build their settlement, and that by 2033 there will be 20 people living on Mars

Mars One claims that a new crew of four will join every two years as the explorers build their settlement, and that by 2033 there will be 20 people living on Mars


The Dutch company is backed by a Nobel prize winning physicist, Gerard 't Hooft - and also by Paul Romer, co-creator of Big Brother

The Dutch company is backed by a Nobel prize winning physicist, Gerard 't Hooft (pictured) - and also by Paul Romer, co-creator of Big Brother

The Dutch company is backed by a Nobel prize winning physicist, Gerard 't Hooft - and also by Paul Romer, co-creator of Big Brother.

The company aims to start training astronauts next year - and will turn the selection and training programme into a 'media event' similar to a reality show.

'We see this as a journey that belongs to us all, and it is for this reason that we will make every step one that we take together,' says the company.

'This will also be our way to finance the mission: the mission to Mars will be the biggest media event ever!

'The entire world will be able to watch and help with decisions as the teams of settlers are selected, follow their extensive training and preparation for the mission and of course observe their settling on Mars once arrived. The emigrated astronauts will share their experiences with us as they build their new home, conduct experiments and explore Mars.'

Mars One's plan has been in development since 2011.

Mars One claims that a new crew of four will join every two years as the explorers build their settlement, and that by 2033 there will be 20 people living on Mars

The journey to Mars will take seven months, says the Dutch company, and the entire process will be televised in a Big Brother-style reality show

Skylights in Mars: These two holes showed NASA that there are caves on the red planet - potentially our new homes?

Skylights in Mars: These two holes from a 2007 NASA survey that there are caves on the red planet - potentially our new homes?

Big Brother creator Rmer says, 'When the Mars One founders first approached me, asking whether they could speak to me about a mission to Mars, my first response was 'these people are crazy. What can they do that NASA’s can’t?'

'That conversation made it clear to me, however. They think so creatively, and outside of the box and the concept of a ‘one-way’ mission is both outrageous and exciting. These aspects are what brought me to the idea of making the mission the biggest media event in the world. Reality meets talent show with no ending and the whole world watching. Now there’s a pitch!'

Here's what other readers have said. Why not add your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards.

The comments below have not been moderated.

There's no breathable oxygen...the only oxygen in the Mars atmophere is bound to carbon making carbon dioxide - RossD89 Lancashire 14:45 >>>>>>>>>>>> and what do plants make with CO2, Ross? Besides NASA already has a working prototype that removes the uncertanties of prolonged & consistent output via an indoor oxygen garden, instead providing an automated means of cracking CO2 into oxygen and carbon monoxide.

"are all big brother contestants like these" "freaks? afraid so man, cheap domes and not enough air to clean out the rays"

Are they going Dutch, or will it be an international effort?

Day 224 Jadean is mocked for thinking "east angular" is a region of the moon titan. She storms out forgetting she's on mars and half of the astronauts decompress in exploded pools of flesh.

You would have cancer before you got to Mars from the solar wind [radiation] in space. You would be fried some more on the surface, never able to walk outside without a space suit. The atmosphere is 95% CO2. A breathable atmosphere is impossible as in 38% Earth gravity the oxygen floats into space. Water ice requires energy to melt it. That's a lot of butane to freight up from Earth. EVERYTHING must come from Earth, including millions of litres of Volvic for them to drink. NASA say it costs $1 million per lb weight FOB Mars. Do the math. If you didn't die of cancer, after a few years of low gravity, your bones would be so brittle that Earth gravity would break your neck. in short, Mars is a dead letter. It only fascinates us because it is red, thus exciting. If it were made of slate, it would be the gray planet, and no one would care. But that is not the main point. WHERE DO I APPLY TO INVEST MY LIFE SAVINGS IN THIS DUTCH COMPANY?

This artical should start with, Once upon a time , and finnish with , and they all lived happily ever after,, it wont happen

- David Knowles, Chigwell, 04/06/2012 13:01 There is no breathable oxygen in the Martian atmosphere. Oxygen is bound in oxidised minerals such iron oxide. The only oxygen that is in the atmosphere of Mars is bound to carbon making carbon dioxide.

'Can we send Davina McCall? - John Slowey, Glasgow UK' Good choice: an android should survive indefinitely and so outlast the humans.

Ha Ha Ha , best laugh I've had in weeks

I wish they'd find a way of stopping these pigs from flying past my window.

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