Mars One plans to send humans to Mars

An artists rendering of what the Mars One human settlement might look. Photo: Handout, Mars One
Published: June 8, 2012, 1:57 pm
Updated: 4 years ago

A Dutch company plans to send four people to Mars by 2023.

Mars One, the company behind the initiative, has earned the endorsement of a Nobel prize winning physicist, Gerard ‘t Hooft, who says the plan is possible.

There’s just one catch. The team won’t come back.

Instead, Mars One participants will create settlement on the red planet, where their lives will be recorded as part of a bizarre, lifelong media stunt.

On its website, Mars One explains, “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.”

Mars One released this promo video last month.

To some, the plan sounds like a scam.

There have been plans to send humans to Mars before but none have succeeded. Some scientists argue the trip is possible, so long as it’s one-way. NASA is unsure if humans could survive the trip, partially because of the amount of radiation between Earth and Mars.

astronaut mars1 Mars One plans to send humans to Mars

NASA has sent robotic missions to Mars but it has no immediate plans to send a human team. Photo: NASA

In an interview with Business Insider, Mars One founder Bas Landorp defended the integrity and plausibility of his plans.

“The problem with proving something is not a hoax is that people who are behind a hoax would answer in exactly the same way,” he says. “Of course, by making progress, we can prove, in the end, that it’s not a hoax. When we land on Mars, people will start believing that it’s not a hoax.”

What do you think? Is this a big stunt or a serious Mars mission? Tell us in the comments and take our poll below.



LAST UPDATED 4 years ago

Prof. Catherine Johnson, of the University of British Columbia, is part of a team of scientists who are planning to send a stationary robotic lander to Mars in 2016. This lander will drill several metres into the planet’s surface and take temperature readings and seismic measurements to learn more about the Martian planet’s core.


NASA has now released a video of the final 2.5 minutes of its decent to the red planet and a separate video chronicling how the entire landing took place, using a combination of computer-generated imagery and actual footage from the landing.