Mars One is a not-for-profit foundation that will establish a permanent human colony on Planet Mars, which is said to be possible in the present times with existing technologies.

Mars One mission plan integrates components that are well tested and readily available from industry leaders worldwide. The Mars One mission plan consists of cargo missions and unmanned preparation of a habitable colony, followed by human landings.

In the coming years, a demonstration mission, communication satellites, two rovers and several cargo missions will be sent to Mars. These missions will set up the outpost where the human crew will live and work. The mission design will take into account the expansion of the human colony where a new crew will arrive every two years.

Mars One is the mother company of Interplanetary Media Group, a for-profit company that enables the foundation to secure funds from its investors. In 2011, the founding members of Mars One team came together to develop a strategic plan for taking humanity to Mars. It yielded the completion of a feasibility study after calling upon experts from space agencies and private aerospace corporations around the world. Letters of interest in support of Mars One led to it incorporating technical, financial, social-psychological and ethical components into its foundation plan. Thereafter, on securing the first investments and commissioning the conceptual design study in 2012, Mars One was ready to launch its Astronaut Selection Programme, wherein applications were invited from people from across the world.

OTHER FACTS

• The two other Indian candidates are 29-year-old Delhi girl Ritika Singh, who works in Dubai and 29-year-old Taranjeet Singh Bhatia, who is doing doctorate in computer science at the University of Central Florida, Orlando, US.

• The selected candidates will not have to pay any amount. They will receive a salary from Mars One.

• Among the organisation’s advisers are two Indian — aerospace expert Gautam Hariharan and former head of Antrix Corporation, Isro’s commercial arm, K R Sridhara Murthi,

• The cost of putting the first four people on Mars is estimated at $6 billion (Dh22.04 billion) and the first unmanned mission is slated for 2018.

• Two Rovers will be sent to Mars to set up the Outpost before the humans arrive there.

• One of the Rovers will explore the surface of Mars in search of the most suitable location for the colony.

• The second Rover will be used for transporting the landing capsules.

• The journey itself is expected to take around seven months.

• The Mars Transit Vehicle will be a compact space station that will carry the astronauts from Earth to Mars.

• It will comprise four parts, which will be docked in Earth orbit; 2 propellant stages, a Transit Habitat and a Lander.

• The Transit Habitat will be the home for the astronauts during their seven months journey.

• In it, they will sleep, train and prepare for their arrival and landing.

• The Transit Habitat will have a mass of about 20,000kg of oxygen on board.

• When they are near Mars, the astronauts will enter the Lander, which will then be disconnected from the Transit Habitat.

• The Transit Habitat and the propellant stages will be left behind to orbit the Sun.

• The Lander will be the only component that will set foot on Mars, with the astronauts inside.