Mars One: Seven Australians among final 100 candidates for one-way tickets to the Red Planet

MEET the Aussies on the trip of a lifetime: A one-way adventure to Mars. But it will also cost them their lives - if they ever get off the ground.

MEET the Aussies on a one-way adventure to Mars. They want to live there. They want to die there. And they’re prepared to risk everything to get there.

Tens of thousands of eager volunteers started the process in 2013. This was whittled down to some 660. Now the number is down to 100 candidates.

What’s all the fuss about? A reality television bid to put colonists on Mars.

BACKGROUNDER: Would you watch me die on Mars?

Out of this talent pool, 24 will be chosen for six proposed flights to the Red Planet.

It’ll all be caught on candid camera, of course.

The seven Australians on the list were chosen after a series of interviews with the Mars One project’s “chief medical officer”, Norbert Kraft.

Team Australia is represented by:

Teah: Age 19. ‘Points’: 125

Dianne: Age 45. ‘Points’: 1070

Rohan: Age 45: ‘Points’: n/a

Josh: Age 29. ‘Points’: 1694

Natalie Lawler: Age 36. ‘Points’: 275

Electra Navarone: Age 37. ‘Points’: 207

Gunnar: Age 41. ‘Points’:n/a

So what does it take to hitch a ride to Mars?

The Dutch-based organisers of the project say they have selected the 50 men and 50 women most capable of competing for the available seats. The first shot is supposed to be by 2024.

“The large cut in candidates is an important step towards finding out who has the right stuff to go to Mars,” said Bas Lansdorp, Co-founder & CEO of Mars One.

What comes next for the candidates willing to go on such a daring trip to Mars? http://t.co/bfCR435uFO #Mars100 pic.twitter.com/bg91JxpdHT

— Mars One (@MarsOneProject) February 16, 2015

“These aspiring Martians provide the world with a glimpse into who the modern day explorers will be.”

But is a one-way ticket to a cabin on a dusty, airless world really a reward?

Even if they actually make it?

Next up is a gruelling test and training program to determine who can handle the hardships of being cooped up in tiny cabins for the rest of their lives. At its core is teamwork, Mars One organisers say.

Risky business ... The Mars One reality television show wants to send ‘colonists’ on a one-way mission to Mars. Source: Mars One

“Being one of the best individual candidates does not automatically make you the greatest team player, so I look forward to seeing how the candidates progress and work together in the upcoming challenges.” Kraft said in a statement issued last night.

All for the cameras, of course.

The project will need to raise in order of $8 billion dollars to realise even a cut-price version of its dream.

What does it take to go to Mars? http://t.co/qys3i6kIo0 @TwigWorld @ProfRWinston @ReachOutCPD #STEM pic.twitter.com/dr5L24fO1W

— Mars One (@MarsOneProject) February 4, 2015

The state of funding — to be raised through sponsorship and television deals tied to a reality television broadcast of the training process and the mission itself — has not been released.

They’d need to get cracking: The first part of the staged plan to colonise Mars is supposed to be a robotic rover mission scheduled for 2018.

It takes considerable time to build the complicated machinery and rockets involved.

And there are many technical and engineering issues to solve.

7 Mars One candidates are now part of a simulated Mars mission. Good luck! http://t.co/yWQlFUqocJ @SPACEdotcom pic.twitter.com/nECQxCLqux

— Mars One (@MarsOneProject) February 10, 2015

@JamieSeidel