Dubai: Three Dubai residents now stand a chance of becoming the first human colonists on Mars by 2025. Indian Ritika Singh, 28, Russian Gleb Osipov, 24 and Polish Mikolaj, 37 who calls himself M1-K0 are among the 705 candidates still hopeful of getting this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
The three have made it to Round 2 of the selection process of Mars One, a not-for-profit foundation aiming to establish permanent human life on Mars. This was the first major cut that eliminated 353 hopefuls from the around the world, a third of potential Mars settlers.
“I am currently determining whether Martians fight or are peaceful,” says Mikolaj in a tongue-in-cheek introduction on the Mars One community platform. The sci-fi enthusiast lists ‘utilising energy from solar powered satellites and creating artificial life’ as his interests.
Singh, the last remaining woman candidate from Dubai, says travelling and adapting to new cultures are her biggest passions. “I had dreamt of going to Mars since the age of five and I am glad that I stand a chance to accomplish my childhood dream,” says Singh who lists photography, adventure sports, reading and swimming, amongst her other interests.
raring to go
The youngest of the trio, Osipov who went to work as a web-developer in Singapore at 18 and now lives and works in Dubai as a designer, is fond of robotics.
“Have seen Mars in a telescope and was fascinated. Ready to sacrifice the Earth life for the opportunity to explore Mars,” he says. Osipov lists robotics and adventure sports as his hobbies.
The three along with the 702 remaining candidates will be interviewed by the Mars One selection committee again during the next phase of Round 2.
“Here we will begin to better understand our candidates who aspire to take such a daring trip. They will have to show their knowledge, intelligence, adaptability and personality,” says Mars One Chief Medical Officer Norbert Kraft.
Mars One announced the selection of 1,058 candidates from the original pool of over 200,000 applicants in December 2013. They were all asked to provide a medical statement of health and open an online Mars One applicant profile by March 2014. Only 418 men and 287 women who completed both tasks will be invited for an interview where the three Dubai-ites hope to impress.
The project aims to launch only four carefully selected applicants in a Mars-bound spaceflight in 2024. They will become the first residents of Mars and every step of the crew’s journey will be documented for a reality television programme.
You speak:
What will you miss most if you were to relocate on Mars?
Write to us at: editor@xpress4me.com
sms 5101
