One Belgian made the shortlist with 99 other candidates to be included in the Mars One project aiming to send a group of settlers to colonise the red planet. The Dutch company published the list of 50 men and 50 women selected on Monday. A total of almost 200,000 people from 140 different countries had applied and an initial shortlist was established last May. There are now only 100 candidates who can hope to get a potential one-way ticket to Mars, including 42-year-old Brad from Antwerp, according to his online profile on the project website.
The next step in the screening process is organising 6 groups of 4 candidates and starting training sessions, physical tests and simulations. 39 of the candidates are from the Americas, 31 from Europe, 16 from Asia, 7 from Africa, and 7 from Oceania. Those who were rejected may re-apply in 2015, to join the project as substitutes for the teams who fail, points out the Mars One press release.
The Mars One project was launched in 2013 by Dutch engineer Bas Lansdorp amongst others, and aims to send the first settlers as early as 2024.
(Source: Belga)
