Now Accepting Job Applications for the Mars Colony 2023

This might sound like a spoof, but it is not anything of the sort. If you are looking for a career change that is literally “out of this world”, the Mars One mission is now accepting job applications for the Mars Colony 2023.

Mars One is a private space exploration concern that is preparing to send four astronauts to Mars in 2023 to establish a human colony on Mars. In addition to the initial four astronauts, Mars One is to send four additional astronauts every other year to the Mars Colony to bring new supplies and manpower to the far out outpost. If you are looking for a drastic career change and are tired of living on planet Earth, working at a human colony on Mars might be a desirable option. The only problem is that if you do not like the job, you cannot change jobs because the missions to the Mars Colony are designed to be one-way missions. There will be no return flight to Earth. At least you won't have to deal with a dreadful commute while working on Mars.

So what exactly is the Mars One Mars Colony and who is behind it? The Mars One Mars Colony plan was made public in June 2012, and involves a series of steps and space vehicle launches with the ultimate goal to land four astronauts on Mars in 2023 to establish a human colony. If all goes according to plan, four additional astronauts would arrive in the Mars Colony every two years. Those who become members of the Mars Colony are expected to live out the rest of their lives on Mars.

The visionary and driving force behind Mars One is Bas Lansdorp, a Dutch entrepreneur. The project is estimated by Mars One to cost $6 Billion to land the initial four astronauts on Mars (many space experts think their estimate is far too low). The private company is looking to raise money for the Mars Colony mission from private sources, and plans to use its controlling interest in Interplanetary Media Group to launch a reality television show that chronicles the Mars Colony mission from the early stages onward to help raise funds.

As of May 2013, more than 78,000 have applied to be a Mars One astronaut. The company plans to start vetting potential Mars astronaut candidates by the end of 2013 or early 2014. They plan on chronicling the astronaut selection process in a reality television show that will allow viewers to participate in the selection process, which is scheduled to be completed in the middle of 2015.

A manned mission to Mars like the one envisioned by Mars One is obviously going to encounter considerable technical and financial challenges that will need to be overcome. The only manned landing attempted outside of Earth up to this point was the Moon missions undertaken by the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s. While these missions provide valuable insight into how to properly design a space vehicle for travelling to and landing on Mars, the length of the flight and the conditions on Mars are engineering challenges that need to be overcome. The sheer cost of a mission to Mars that includes an ongoing colony is extremely difficult to estimate. The United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) studied this question in 2009 and came up with a cost of $100 Billion, which is considerably more than Mars One’s $6 Billion cost estimate. Being a private sector concern, Mars One will likely be able to go to Mars for less than a government entity, due to cost efficiencies; however, a $94 Billion cost difference leaves a lot of questions open about the true cost of such a private space mission. It certainly will not make it easy for Mars One to raise money for the Mars Colony from private investors.

The question has to be asked: Is The Mars One Mars Colony For Real?‎ Some cynics think the Mars One Mars Colony proposal is little more than a gimmick to promote and profit from an outlandish reality television show. Others think that Mars One has sincere intentions to colonize Mars, but has an unworkable plan that is lacking in the technical and financial resources needed to pull off such a grandiose goal. Sooner or later, mankind is likely to at least visit Mars, if not establish a colony there; perhaps Mars One will surprise their critics and actually colonize Mars. Check your reality television listings for further developments regarding this peculiar endeavor.