Mars One Colony Project to Whittle List of Astronaut Hopefuls to 40

Artist's Concept of Mars One Colony
Artist's concept of Mars One's envisioned colony on the Red Planet. (Image credit: Bryan Versteeg/Mars One)

Mars One — the private venture formed to send people on a one-way trip to the Red Planet — is getting ready to whittle down its astronaut hopefuls from 100 people to just 40.

In the near future (the exact date has not been announced), Mars One will hold a five-day team challenge made up of those hopefuls, Mars One representatives said in a statement. The process will start with 10 groups of 10, but the groups will change composition due to "continuous elimination," the statement said.

Group members will pick the groups themselves, adhering to certain guidelines such as having a 50-50 gender ratio and maintaining a diversity of ages and nationalities. [Mars One: A Private Martian Colony Project in Pictures]

At the end of every day, roughly 10 to 20 people will leave the selection process, Mars One representatives said in the statement. Candidates will be judged based on their performance of both indoor and outdoor activities, using such metrics as trust, problem solving, precision, communication and interdependency. Group members will rank whom they want to work with, which will be taken into account for eliminations. The candidates have also been given study materials ahead of time that they are expected to assimilate, representatives said in the statement.

Prior to Mars One's attempt to found a human colony on Mars, the Mars One group plans an unmanned scouting expedition. See how Mars One hopes to send an unmanned lander to Mars in our full infographic. (Image credit: by Karl Tate, Infographics Artist)

This selection round, as well as those in the future, will be filmed, Mars One stated; Mars One did not provide  further details about filming, production, or air dates. The remaining 40 people will be placed into isolation, after which the company will reduce those in the running to 30 people. After that, the contenders will undergo a "Mars Settler Suitability Interview," according to the statement.

The organization plans to send its first uncrewed mission to Mars in 2020, with crews departing for the Red Planet every 26 months starting in 2026 (an extension of its original projection of 2024, which happened due to a lack of investment funding).

Last year, former astronaut candidate Joseph Roche criticized Mars One, alleging that the organization has a skewed selection process and that it insists candidates must raise funds to participate. In response, Mars One said fundraising was not a requirement for selection, that they plan to use private investor and sponsorship funds to back the project and that the process was scientifically rigorous.

Follow Elizabeth Howell @howellspace, or Space.com @Spacedotcom. We're also on Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.

Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community@space.com.

Elizabeth Howell
Staff Writer, Spaceflight

Elizabeth Howell (she/her), Ph.D., is a staff writer in the spaceflight channel since 2022 covering diversity, education and gaming as well. She was contributing writer for Space.com for 10 years before joining full-time. Elizabeth's reporting includes multiple exclusives with the White House and Office of the Vice-President of the United States, an exclusive conversation with aspiring space tourist (and NSYNC bassist) Lance Bass, speaking several times with the International Space Station, witnessing five human spaceflight launches on two continents, flying parabolic, working inside a spacesuit, and participating in a simulated Mars mission. Her latest book, "Why Am I Taller?", is co-written with astronaut Dave Williams. Elizabeth holds a Ph.D. and M.Sc. in Space Studies from the University of North Dakota, a Bachelor of Journalism from Canada's Carleton University and a Bachelor of History from Canada's Athabasca University. Elizabeth is also a post-secondary instructor in communications and science at several institutions since 2015; her experience includes developing and teaching an astronomy course at Canada's Algonquin College (with Indigenous content as well) to more than 1,000 students since 2020. Elizabeth first got interested in space after watching the movie Apollo 13 in 1996, and still wants to be an astronaut someday. Mastodon: https://qoto.org/@howellspace