New Delhi: Kerala girl Shradha Prasad, 19, is inching towards qualifying for the final round of selection for the Planet Mars mission. The perky 19-year-old is the only child of her parents, who as she puts it, “were obviously very shocked” when she chose to apply to live on another planet!
Mars One, a Netherland-based not-for-profit foundation is aiming to establish permanent human colony on Mars and had invited applications for the same in April 2013. Out of the 202,586 applicants, 100 qualified for the third round. Of these, 24 will be chosen for the final mission — a one-way trip to Mars. The current plan envisages crew of four departing every two years beginning 2024. The first unmanned flight is slated for lift-off in 2018.
Shradha is the only candidate based in India to be selected by the foundation. She says: “I realise it will be tough to leave my parents, relatives and friends and I will miss each one of them, if selected. But then I am close to getting the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
In an exclusive interview with Gulf News, she speaks about a future on Mars.
GULF NEWS: Being the youngest, how hopeful are you of making it to the fourth and final list of 24 candidates?
SHRADHA PRASAD: As of now, my confidence level is at its prime because I have made it to the final round. And I might have an edge in that round because I am the youngest candidate. The final selection round will be televised, more like a reality show and aired across the globe. The candidates will participate in group challenges that demonstrate their suitability to become part of the project. It will be an important step towards finding out who has the right stuff to go to Mars.
What were the most difficult questions in the selection rounds?
There were no difficult questions as such. It was basically about our take on different aspects. We had a chance to show our understanding of the risks involved, identifying our strengths and weaknesses and analysing ourselves. It also involved team spirit and the motivation to be part of the life-changing expedition.
In the interview round we were given some study material and gave exams and ran tests for things we might have to do in Mars. It consisted of the road map, the technology and an assessment of our willpower to show the understanding of the risks involved. For the final round we will have to endure physical tasks to prove how tough we are to sustain the obvious risks we face and whether we can endure all the hardships of a permanent settlement there.
How did you come to know of the Mars Mission?
I got to know of it through a newspaper article and found it very interesting. I am one of only two girls in the mechanical engineering class at Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, a college in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, where I am presently studying. I have always been interested in everything related to space sciences and technology and decided to give it a try by filling an online application.
Did you inform or ask your parents before applying?
I did. But they insisted it was some sort of a scam and dissuaded me. I just went ahead and applied. They were as surprised as I was when I was shortlisted. And once reality sunk in, they became worried. I had to persuade them to let me appear for the selection tests and they finally relented. Of course, they are now proud that I am one of the 50 women and 50 men chosen for the final selection.
What kind of training will be given to live under ‘artificial conditions’ on Mars?
Since we will be assigned an area to live in for the rest of our life on Mars, we will be trained in engineering to medicine to solving the basic everyday problems. Also, every year, we will have to live in an isolated place like Antarctica to get habituated to unusual living conditions. We would be trained in a replica of the Mars outpost. Up to six groups of four will become full-time employees of the Mars One astronaut corps.
Since the selected candidates will work as full-time employees of Mars One, what monetary benefits will you draw? Were you made to spend any amount till now?
Till now, the spending from my side has been negligible. Once I make it to the final 24, I will be a paid employee of Mars One and draw a salary. I do not know the amount we will be paid, as it has not been announced yet.
If you are fond of food, I suppose, that’s one thing you’ll miss terribly up there?
Oh, I’m very fond of eating and will certainly miss home-cooked food. That will obviously be a problem. In the initial months we will have to adjust to canned food. After that, since plants can actually be grown under different conditions, experiments are being carried out for such growth. Everything out there will have to be produced artificially. Experiments and evidences indicate that Mars may have a distinct and global reservoir of water or ice near its surface. So, water will be extracted using a machine, which would already have been sent before the first manned mission. Total of 8 unmanned missions will take place before anyone of us is sent. In the course of these missions water and oxygen production units will be set up there.
Aren’t you sceptical knowing the fact of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) study that says — ‘should the first explorers succeed in landing, using current technology they would likely survive just 68 days?
I have heard of that. But then, there will be several years before we go to Mars. By then, Mars One will have established a habitable, sustainable outpost via multiple missions scheduled between 2018 and 2022. I will be completely satisfied only if the risk percentage is as low as possible. I am sure no one wants to put any of us in danger. There will be a thorough examination of how things could possibly go wrong once we reach or even on the way to Mars.
Considering it’s not a ‘walk in the park’, are you not scared, as it is a one-way trip?
NASA is sure that it could do something in 2030. I wouldn’t mind even if the mission is postponed to a later date, so that the risk factor is minimised. But my adventurous spirit will not let me back out.
• Shradha Prasad was born on July 2, 1995 in Solapur, Maharashtra to mother Geetha and father Prasad S.
• She studied at the Kendriya Vidhyalaya, Kanjikode in Palakkad district of Kerala.
• Presently studying mechanical engineering at Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu.
