From an initial list of 202,586, applicants hoping to become part of the Mars One project were whittled down to 100, advancing to the next stage of the selection process for determining who will be among the first humans to live on the Red Planet.
According to Bas Lansdrop, CEO and co-founder of Mars One, the dramatic cut in the number of applicants was important toward zeroing in on who has what it takes to go to Mars. The list of 100 hopefuls will be further trimmed in the next round of the selection process but the current list gives the world a glimpse at what modern-day explorers will be like.
The Mars 100 Round Three candidates were chosen from 660 applicants who made the second cut, picked out after Norbert Kraft, M.D., Mars One chief medical officer, talked to each one for a personal interview online. During their personal interviews, the candidates had the opportunity to indicate Kraft what they understood of the project, including its risks, as well as their ability to work with a team and their motivation to become a part of the historic expedition to Mars.
"We were impressed with how many strong candidates participated in the interview round, which made it a very difficult selection," said Kraft.
Out of the 100 chosen for the third stage of the selection process, 50 are men and 50 are women, hailing from various parts of the world. From the Americas, 39 made the cut while 31 will be representing Europe. There are 16 Asians, seven Africans and seven Oceanians.
Those who made it to round three, however, cannot relax just yet as they will be further tested to help the project organizers in crafting teams that will be able to overcome all the challenges that permanent Mars settlement will bring. To gauge their abilities, the candidates will be training in an exact copy of the outpost that will be built on Mars.
While individual merits played a role in determining who will make the cut for the third round of the selection process, Kraft warned that being the best individually does not automatically make a candidate a great team player.
The training will be an excellent opportunity for candidates to show they can be an asset to a team, progressing with each obstacle as they team up to address problems.
Those who didn't make the cut for the Mars 100 Round Three candidates still have a chance to become part of Mars One by resubmitting an application. The project will open a new round of applications in 2015 meant for training candidates as replacements for eliminated teams and as settlers joining the pioneers.
