A , which drew 200,000 applicants, who will now be tested to come up with a final list of 24 people who will go live in the red planet by 2025.
, a Dutch non-profit agency said the finalists would undergo eight years of extensive training聽before launch. They must be happy with the idea of never returning to this planet 鈥� Mars One鈥檚 mission is a one-way trip.
The 1,058 candidates who got through to the first round came from all over the world, said the organization. By far the largest number 鈥�297鈥� is from the US, followed by 75 Canadians and 62 Indians.
Those who were not selected in this round, still have a chance to reapply at a later, but still undetermined date, said Mars One co-founder Bas Lansdorp.
鈥淯S astronaut Clayton Anderson was rejected by NASA for its astronaut training program 15 times, yet in 2007 he boarded the Space Shuttle Atlantis for a trip to the International Space Station. He proved anything can happen and the door is never completely closed,鈥� he said .
The estimated cost of the mission is close to $6 billion, and Mars One plans to broadcast every aspect of the mission in a reality-style聽TV program.
鈥淲e anticipate our remaining candidates to become celebrities in their towns, cities, and in many cases, countries. It鈥檚 about to get very interesting,鈥� he added.
In , the US space agency (NASA) partnered with asteroid mining firm聽Planetary Resources聽to detect, track and characterize near-Earth objects (NEOs).
