Mars One mission: Five British applicants chosen for a one-way trip to the red planet to establish human colony on Mars
Five Britons have been chosen as potential candidates to fly a mission to the planet Mars, which will never return to Earth.
Four women and one man from the UK have been shortlisted to be on the Mars One mission, along with 100 others from around the world, from an initial 200,000 applicants.
They include students and researchers in astronomy, physics and astrophysics, a science lab technician and a manager for Virgin Media who all want a one-way ticket to the red planet.
The Mars One mission is a private space project being run by Dutch entrepreneur Bas Lansdorp, which aims to establish a human colony on Mars by 2025.
After a call for crew members and three rounds of selection, the list of candidates who are now one step closer to their dream of being the first humans to travel to Mars has now been shortened to 50 men and 50 women – 39 of whom are from America, 31 from Europe, 16 from Asia, seven from Africa and seven from Oceania.
The candidates will now face tough training challenges to be selected for the mission, which will focus on creating teams of people who can endure the hardships of a permanent settlement on Mars.
“Being one of the best individual candidates does not automatically make you the greatest team player, so I look forward to seeing how the candidates progress and work together in the upcoming challenges,” said Dr Norbert Kraft.
Those chosen for the mission would spend between seven and eight months journeying through outer space before arriving on Mars. After living on the planet, the crew would lose bone and muscle mass due to the weaker gravitational field, meaning they would be unable to readjust to Earth.
The Mars One mission, which is expected to cost £3.8bn, is one of several racing the to be the first to take humans to Mars, including Nasa's Orion mission and the Inspiration Mars Foundation.
Lansdorp aims to raise some of the funding by turning the mission into a reality TV-style show, for which he will sell the global broadcast rights.
Meet the Brit candidates who are hoping to go where no man (or woman) has gone before.
Alison, a 35-year-old science lab technician
Hannah, an astronomy PHD student at Durham, aged 23
Ryan, a 21-year-old physics masters student at Oxford
Maggie Lieu, a 24-year-old PhD astrophysics student at the University of Birmingham
Clare, a 27-year-old manager at Virgin Media