According to BBC News, Mars One, a Dutch organization, is seeking adventurous applicants to work on a trip to the Red Planet. Those who apply must be “resilient, adaptable, resourceful, and work well within a team” One hitch—the trip is one way!
Applicants must pass a rigorous physical and mental selection process—think The Right Stuff. And rather than specific occupations, Mars One is looking more for people with “real-world” experience who are brave and who like challenges.
Talk about job training, the Mars One website says that those chosen should expect 8 years of orientation and learning.
And, of course, there will be some other downsides to workers, including working in a vacuum, radiation, space debris, solar winds, and unknown health concerns, but Mars One hopes to keep “risks within acceptable odds.”
Another caveat to applicants is that workers will be living communally with colleagues 24/7. On top of everything else, there will be videographers who will record their every move—reality-show style. Wouldn’t you love to see the policy manual for this workplace!
And workers probably have to worry about compensation, since the project is not yet funded. Well, there is no place to spend your pay there anyway, and you do get free transportation and room and board.
So, why have there already been thousands of applicants for what could be a dead-end job? Yes, you guessed correctly: because the jobs are in a proposed colony on Mars, which means workers are hoping to “live long and prosper”!