In any science fiction story we see human beings living on planets or spaceships far away from Earth. They run their lives as per different rules and human society grows in outer space. In the real world going to a distant planet may not be possible, but scientists are fairly certain that a small colony could be set up on a planet closer home, Mars.

A non profit organization called Mars One based in Netherlands has actually started short listing a group of people who will be the first to colonize Mars. They have been shortlisting candidates from all over the world and intend to use the winners as crew of an ambitious private mission. As per the mission four people will be sent to Mars to begin colonization in 2024, on a one way trip.

It may be a “once in a lifetime” opportunity that more than 200,000 people applied for in 2013 December, but would you want to be one of them? Considering that you will eventually end up dying on the red planet when your supplies run out, how many people would want to do that? At least with the NASA missions you have a shot at getting back home. Still its an interesting science project to read about.