Last year, HR Strange but True! reported on a call for applicants by Dutch organization MarsOne to staff a trip to Mars. Well, according to Yahoo! News, it looks like the “hiring process” is still progressing and has become the subject of a short film, “Mars One Way,” featuring five of the “applicants” and why they applied.
The organizers do not seem to be just recruiting scientists oozing “The Right Stuff.” One applicant featured in the film is a professional beekeeper (wonder how those skill sets will come in handy in outer space). But since the entire trip will be videotaped, it is a dream job for reality show aspirants.
HRSBT! warned of the pluses (lots of training, free room and board and transportation) and the minuses (having to be with your coworkers 24/7; workplace safety concerns such as radiation, asteroids, and floating space debris; and—oh yes—no ride home).
And the conflict in the film comes from the work/life aspects of making such a finite choice of employer.
MarsOne has a goal of selecting the flight crew by the end of this year from over 200,000 applicants, so it can start the 8 years of training leading toward a 2024 departure date.
One wag commenting on the Yahoo! article notes, “On the application form, Question #1 is: Are you now or have you ever had suicidal tendencies? If the answer is YES, please proceed to the next question. If NO, thank you for your interest.”
Maybe the beekeeper is going to help colonize.