Is Mars One A Scam? Martian 100 Finalists Share Their Experience

A one-way ticket to Mars and a chance to be the first human colonists on the red planet: Mars One's ambitious mission led to more than 200,000 applicants to be among the crew sent to Mars in 2025. Candidates have been whittled down to 100, but there are concerns about the feasibility of the mission, Mars One's funding and the selection process.

Dr. Joseph Roche was among the Martian 100 and was the centerpiece of a report by Elmo Keep for Matter. Roche said he was never interviewed by anyone from Mars One. "I have not met anyone from Mars One in person," Roche said. He said his regional interview was a Skype call that lasted 10 minutes.

"Mars One has almost no money. Mars One has no contracts with private aerospace suppliers who are building technology for future deep-space missions. Mars One has no TV production partner. Mars One has no publicly known investment partnerships with major brands," Keep writes.

Ethan Dederick is working toward his Ph.D. at New Mexico State University and is among the 100 candidates selected by Mars One. Dederick said he has zero supporter points and has not donated to Mars One or purchased any merchandise.

"The process up-to-date included the initial application, including a CV, statements, etc., followed by a health examination (a physical, but also with an ECG and blood work), and then finally an interview process," Dederick told International Business Times. "The interview was about 15 minutes, because that was all the time Dr. Norbert Kraft needed to assess psychological realizations of the candidates. We had one month to learn a solid chunk of material about Martian geology, atmosphere, etc., and the mechanics of the mission itself. Then, during the interview, he asked questions specifically targeted toward whether or not we understand what the purpose of the mission truly is and if we understand exactly what the risks are."

Physicist Josh Richards is another Mars One finalist and has been involved in the process since 2012. "I'd sat down to start researching a new comedy show based on the idea of humans going one-way to Mars. It was originally intended to be quite bitter -- disappointed that we as a species hadn't been beyond low-Earth orbit in more than 40 years (since Apollo 17). As soon as I found Mars One's first press release, I knew I had a chance to be one of those exploring rather than bi---ing that we should," Richards said.

He said that the application process began in April 2013 and he spent three days filling out forms, writing essays and other material that was not part of his public Mars One profile. "I have written about 8,000 words for the private part of my application, and none of that has been shared beyond Mars One's selection committee," Richards said.

Richards has a science-comedy show and makes appearances to discuss space exploration and the mission to Mars. He said Mars One never asked for donations from appearance fees -- a claim made by Roche -- but that he did donate some money to the group and purchased merchandise.

"Inspiring Australia had given me a grant of AU$1,200, and I spent about AU$400 of that on T-shirts to give away to audience members -- the rest on venue hire and promotion," Richards said. "I voluntarily donated the show profits to Mars One. They never asked me to do that -- it was never even suggested. But I got the chance to speak to hundreds of people about a cause I believe in, and even though it was a pittance, it was a way for me to financially contribute."

As for the medical test, Richards said he completed exams similar to those he took for his pilot's license. He said he signed a contract throughout the process -- the non-disclosure agreement to ensure the interviews were not influenced by other candidates or reports. Richards did confirm Mars One suggested contributing 75 percent of earned speaking fees to the group, but it was in one email and the request has not been made again.

"I work as a professional speaker now, so my standard practice for the last two years has been to donate everything I make during National Science Week (my most profitable week of the year). I have no savings, and any money I earn from paid speaking events is spent traveling around, doing more speaking events about Mars One for free. They've never asked or expected me to do that, but I want to support what Mars One is trying to achieve in my own small way," Richards said.

Mars One's selection process is not the only thing that has been criticized. The feasibility of the mission to Mars -- and the actual costs -- was the subject of a study published by graduate students from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The study said there would need to be more launches and an initial cost of US$4.5 billion to establish the first colony on Mars. Even then, colonists would only last 68 days before depleting available oxygen.

"After discussions with potential suppliers for each component and close examination, Mars One estimates the cost of putting the first four people on Mars at US$6 billion. The US$6 billion figure is the cost of all the hardware combined, plus the operational expenditures, plus margins. For every next manned mission, Mars One estimates the costs at US$4 billion," Mars One said in an email to IBTimes. "The Mars One mission will be financed with investments. We have had a very successful investment round in March 2013 and are currently in the closing stages of a much larger investment round."

Plenty of skeptics, including Neil DeGrasse Tyson, have concerns about Mars One's mission. President Barack Obama has made a mission to Mars a priority for NASA, and the idea of space exploration has piqued the curiosity of people around the world. Mars One has a timeline for its mission and future announcements -- including the start of training later this year -- that will shed more light on the feasibility of such an ambitious endeavor.