There has been some media buzz recently about the Mars One announcement as they narrowed the list of potential red planet colonizers down from the initial 200,000 to just 100, evenly split between men and women. Although there hasn't been as much media attention as we would expect, considering the project is planning to go to freaking MARS!
Maybe its just that everyone is more than a bit skeptical of the strange project that claims to be bringing together the creators of Big Brother, SpaceX and Lockheed Martin, in addition to crowd funding to get things off the ground. With some criticism that the announced partnerships may not be as solid as Mars One wants us to believe, not to mention the technical and financial hurdles that the project needs to overcome (again, MARS), a lot of people may be scratching their heads and wondering if the whole thing is one big scam.
Regardless of what we think, thousands of people have applied to be part of the historic mission – or maybe, just to compete on television. Only time will tell, but in the meantime here are four candidates that made it to Round 3 of the selection process. All of them are from the MENA region but have diverse backgrounds and interests.
Najeeb says, "I would love to go to Mars. I want to be part of history. I would like to play a role in the passing of the human evolution torch as we burn ourselves in the process." Continuing he adds, "Do I think I am the perfect candidate for it? Yes, of course I am!"
According to his profile, Najeeb is a computer engineer, instructor of computer science and also a senior software developer. His hobbies and interests include human mythology, philosophy, the world and humanity in general.
We give him: 8 Steps out of 10. We would want a computer engineer on Mars.
Drawing from his ancestral heritage as motivation for his Mars dreams, Mido says, "The reason why I want to go to Mars is quite deeper than usual . . . The real reason is because of my ancestors, the ancient Egyptians . . . They perfected astronomy to a level where it actually affected an entire civilization, which I proudly come from."
Mido also writes in his profile that he has dreamed of being an astronaut since he was a child. His interests include underwater archaeology, sports and music.
We give him: 5 Steps out of 10. We're not so sure how his ancient ancestry would help us in the rocket ship.
In her video statement, Elaheh confidently states, "I know some of the possible consequences and dangers." Nonetheless, she makes it clear that wants to travel to Mars and be part of making history for humankind.
Currently a student of architecture, she claims that she fell in love with cosmology when she was 16. She also enjoys playing her harmonica, reading, writing, creating and designing.
We give her: 7 Steps out of 10. If there are only four people stuck on a planet for the rest of their lives, we would want one of them to be a harmonica player.
Explaining his desire to take part in the Mars One mission, Sadegh says, "I really want to go to Mars because of the mission itself ... these formidable challenges fit my nature and my purpose [in] life."
Having studied biology, Sadegh classifies himself as both a researcher and an athlete. He also mentions that he is a professional table tennis player and enjoys swimming and adventure travel.
We give him: 3 Steps out of 10. Being a professional table tennis player is not winning him any points.
The UAE's The National further announced that two expats currently residing in the Emirates are also part of the shortlisted 100. They are Ritika Singh, from India, and Mikolaj Zielinski, from Poland.
Besides a perhaps abnormal comfortableness with leaving Earth and all of humanity behind, none of these four people seem that different than the rest of us. It's difficult to know if we should wish them the best of luck or cross our fingers and hope that they aren't chosen to fly off to their inevitable doom.