The Mars One project admitted that it did not receive hundreds of thousands of applications

Representatives of the company Mars One officially admit that they did not receive 200 thousand applications. The number of successfully completed the registration form and paid the fee was a little more than four thousand. A widely cited number refers to the number of users leaving their email addresses. But even without this, facts are spread that speak of the dark future of the project. For example, Mars One on a regular basis once a year shifts the deadlines for fulfilling goals by 2 years.

The project blog has a post, which tells how the selection of participants was carried out. The process of any selection always demonstrates a classic marketing funnel: a huge number of those who show interest decrease at different speeds when passing the tests and selection criteria. Prior to the publication of the post, specific numbers and details were not called.

So, in 2013, during the online registration data of 202 586 people were received. All these people expressed a desire to get a one-way ticket to Mars. Various information was collected from them, including confirmation of the email address, country and date of birth. In addition, they agreed to the terms of registration. The next stage of selection consisted of depositing registration fees. It varied depending on the gross domestic product of the country of residence. For example, residents of Afghanistan, Niger and Somalia had to pay $ 5, and registration for the applicant from Qatar cost $ 73. According to Mars One, the funds received were used to finance the selection process.

Only 4,227 people paid for registration. After that, they were given access to a website on which they could fill out personal data, talk about their motivation in the form of a video and a questionnaire on the site. The applicants were asked how they deal with difficult and stressful situations. The results were reviewed by Mars One staff. After passing this stage, only 1058 people remained. They got into the so-called second round of selection.

As part of it, it was necessary to undergo a medical examination at the own therapist and agree to publish a completed profile - the applicants were required to be open. The interview following these two steps involved only 660 people. So the final 100 participants were selected. As indicated in the post, the process of selecting from among the finalists those who really fly to Mars will be discussed later.

These numbers are slightly different from the previous information. Selection process criticizedJoseph Rocher, Ph.D. in Physics and Astrophysics, in the final hundred. According to him, in the project not 200 thousand were registered, but only 2761 people. The number is different from what is called on the Mars One blog - 4,227 who paid the fee. To pass the selection, each participant is assigned points. They can be earned either by fulfilling the requirements of the program, or by donating money and buying project attributes: T-shirts, sweatshirts, posters. In February, finalists were advised to accept interview fees and donate three-quarters of the amount received at Mars One. As a result, according to Rocher, those who brought the project the most money were in the top.

Rocher stated that he did not meet with the project participants in person. Rocher participated solely out of interest: he made a mediocre video clip, and answered many questions in one word. The interview consisted of a ten minute Skype call. At the stage of medical selection, no complex psychological tests and studies were carried out - it was necessary to undergo an examination with your own doctor. Mars One claims that medical requirements were similar to those presented by NASA or the European Space Agency. Rocher fears that the loss of confidence in Mars One will undermine public attitudes toward space exploration in general. Mars One also published an hour-long video that explained to finalists how to work with the media. It was later removed.



from YouTube video hosting for unknown reasons. In the video, Julian Bolster recommends that candidates answer reporters only for questions previously approved by Mars One. Other tips include avoiding answering undesirable questions and instead sending them to the company’s press service, praising the quality of the training program (which does not exist) and never calling a one-way flight a “suicidal mission”. Instead, it should be pointed out that the Apollo lunar program and the ISS were also potentially suicidal. Mars One recommends loving the answer "I don’t know."

Mars One is a project to create a self-sustaining colony on Mars in the coming decades. At the moment, people have never landed on the surface of the red planet. Its population is automatic research probes and rovers. Mars One involves the use of a colony on Mars as a platform for a reality show. At the moment, there is also no data on contracts with television companies.

Goals	year 2013	year 2014	2015 year
The launch of the second crew	2024	2026	2028
Landing on Mars first crew	2023	2025	2027
First crew launch	2022	2024	2026
Station Blocks Landing	2021	2023	2025
Launching Station Blocks	2020	2022	2024
Launching the rover and finding a place for the colony	2018	2020	2022
Demo mission	2016	2018	2020
Data source	Internet archive (the text remains only in the page code)	Internet Archive	mars-one.com

Mars One suggests landing a man on Mars as early as 2027. These terms are regularly shifted exactly two years a year. This year it already happened in March. In February, it became known that work on unmanned missions was quietly stopped.

Mars One expects to buy technology for flying to Mars from the private space company SpaceX. NASA confidently claims that no commercial company can reach Mars without the help of an American space agency. Massachusetts Institute of Technology study says



that the colonists will die approximately 68 days after disembarkation due to the low partial pressure of oxygen. The habitat will also be at risk of fire due to the high molar fraction of oxygen. Mars One notes that although the study contains criticism, it considers the mission as possible. But the researchers refute this statement: “To fully clarify the situation: the plan for the Mars One mission, as described on their website and elsewhere by Mr. Lansdorp and others, is not feasible.”