Maggie Lieu is all set to be part of the first batch of humans headed for the Red Planet as part of the Mars One project. The only thing she's waiting for now is whether or not she made the cut for the 40-person contingent out of 600 people from the shortlist.
An astrophysics PhD candidate at the Birmingham University, Lieu already bested thousands of people to make it to the Mars One shortlist. That in itself is an achievement but she's keen on making it to the final 40, all of which will undergo a 10-year training program to get them ready for life on Mars.
But while there is great distinction in being the first people on Mars, the 40-person group will also have a lot of responsibility, given they will be laying down the groundwork for colonizing the planet. This means surviving the brutal environment in which temperatures can drop to -80 degrees Fahrenheit and radiation from the sun can be lethal.
If picked, Lieu is also more than ready to take on the challenge of being a mother in Mars.
"To start a colony we would have to have children on Mars, eventually it would happen. It would be challenging, nobody has done any research on giving birth in a low-gravity environment," she said.
The 24-year-old also thinks motherhood on Mars should not be that much different from being a mom on Earth. She even thinks it's funny considering a child that will be born in the Red Planet will be called a Martian.
Still, going to Mars is not like just taking a trip on the other side of the world. In fact, the Mars One project is a one-way mission.
Lieu understands the difficulties of leaving her family on Earth and that communicating from the Red Planet can be troublesome but she is unfazed, saying participants will just have to learn to deal with all that.
Every two years starting on 2024, four-person groups will be sent to Mars. As virtually everything the colony would need would have to be built from scratch, participants will be taught a range of skills during their training. This will include medicine and agriculture, even electronics and plumbing.
Mars One is a not-for-profit founded with the aim of establishing a permanent settlement for humans on the Red Planet. Before human exploration begins, unmanned preparations and cargo missions will be deployed to create a habitable settlement on Mars.
