Mars Could Soon Be Home For Human Settlers

By Craig Garcia - Mars has long been of interest to astronomers, astronauts and scientists alike. And soon it may be home for the first human explorers to reach the planet. The Dutch, while they may not have a ton of real estate here on Earth, have a very ambitious plan to settle the red planet, and plan to do so by April 2023.

The team behind Mars One (The name of this project) have a very bold plan to settle the martian landscape. The biggest shocker about this project would be that for these settlers, this would be a one way trip. That's right, settlers boldly going where no man has gone before would remain there for the rest of their lives.

While the thought of remaining on the red rock for the rest of ones life does sound daunting, the trip getting there will also be fraught with difficulties of it's own. It will take a little over 7 months of continuous travel to reach Mars, and along the way astronauts will have to endure cramped living quarters, lack of privacy, limited food supplies and entertainment, as well as a bevy of potential problems outside the spacecraft such as solar flares, micro meteorites, radiation... the list goes on and on. But once there... the first 4 human astronauts will be stepping into a truly, undiscovered country. 

The "road map to Mars" as described by the project, has already begun and as early as 2013  the selection process will begin to determine who the first four humans on Mars will be, and every 2 years another batch of 4 astronauts will join the colony up to a maximum of 40 people living and working on the red planet.

This project, although being spearheaded by the Dutch, would be a global endeavor. The mission statement of Mars-One reads "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. The mission itself will provide us with invaluable scientific and social knowledge that will be accessible to everyone, not just an elite select few"

This is truly an inspirational statement and should when this project succeeds, it will be a testament to the possibilities of man kind. For more information on the Mars-One Project, check back here often for updates, otherwise you can always head right to their website for more details.