Carl LeCompte spends his days now on the Microsoft campus in Bellevue, but he hopes to live out the rest of his life on Mars.
LeCompte just learned he made the cut of 100 for the Mars One project out of Denmark. Mars One plans to send 24 people to build a colony on Mars — with the first crew of four arriving in 2025.
LeCompte is a single, 28-year-old computer programmer who became enamored with life on another planet when he read “Dune” as a second grader.
He was one of 200,000 initial applicants in 2013.
Since then he’s been through a series of applications, online interviews, and even had to get a doctor’s write-off.
February 17th, 2015
Bellevue man among final candidates for mission to colonize Mars KIRO 7 Eyewitness News
February 12th, 2015
One Way to Mars The Washington Post
Mars One envisions a colony of humans on the red planet, starting in 2025. Plenty of people think that is unrealistic, but the nonprofit is vigorously recruiting potential pioneers to go to mars, one-way, with no hope of coming back. Here’s the ambitious — some say too ambitious — timeline: February 13, 2015: About 50 men and 50 women learn they’ve made it to Round 3. Group challenges will test survival skills and math ability, but they’ll also reveal how candidates deal with adversity — and with each other.
February 9th, 2015
Short film tells the stories of three people who want to die on Mars Mashable
It takes a certain type of person to willfully leave behind life on Earth forever in hopes of colonizing a new planet.
Filmmaker Peter Savodnik and his short-form documentary company Stateless Media set out to explore such a mindset by telling the stories of three of the 660 people vying for a one-way trip to the Red Planet as part of a worldwide competition called Mars One. Putting technical and scientific considerations aside, the 10-minute film, If I Die on Mars, delves into the lives of three far-flung candidates. It focuses not just on their intense enthusiasm for the prospect of exploring Mars, but also the sense of longing and frustration that fuels their urge to escape their own planet.
“We’re alternately fascinated and a little bit troubled by the idea of people wanting to go away forever,” Savodnik told Mashable. “I think it’s fair to say that everyone involved felt like we learned a great deal about these people and how they think.”
February 5th, 2015
Maggie Lieu Wants To Be First Woman To Give Birth On Mars The Huffington Post
Humans have yet to set foot on Mars, but one British woman already wants to be the first to give birth on the red planet.
Maggie Lieu, 24, is an astrophysics Ph. D. candidate at Birmingham University. She is also one of 600 people being considered for the Mars One project, which hopes to set up a permanent colony on Mars by 2025.
Lieu will find out next month if she will join 39 other people who will actually train for the one-way trip to the red planet.
If Lieu makes it to Mars, she plans to get busy colonizing the planet.
December 31st, 2014
Ten Finalists of the Mars One University Competition Mars One
Mars One is happy to present the ten finalists of the Mars One university competition!
Which project would you like to see fly to Mars on our 2018 unmanned lander mission?
You can vote by liking the image of your favorite project.
You can like / vote until December 31st, 2014 and the winner will be announced on January 5th, 2015.
November 20th, 2014
Astronaut Buzz Aldrin in favor of Mars One’s one-way trips to the Red Planet blastr
With NASA not really lighting the solar system on fire with tangible plans to get humans to Mars, some private spacefaring companies hope to carry us to the Red Planet — and now one of America’s most famous astronauts has thrown his support behind one of the most controversial missions.
While speaking at a panel for MIT’s AeroAstro 100 conference in Massachusetts, Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin opened up about his thoughts on future plans to get humans to Mars. Specifically, Aldrin offered his thoughts on Mars One — you know, the one that’d turn the whole thing into a reality TV series — and said he’s actually in favor of the one-way mission.
Aldrin said he looks at the situation from a simple perspective of cost, noting that we’d likely be better served by making an effort to keep a settlement on the planet after spending so much time, effort and money to get them there. But once we’d established a working base, then consider some return trips if necessary.
August 29th, 2014
Colorado man may be headed to Mars — for good AOL.
A Colorado native says he’s been preparing his whole life to travel to Mars, and he’s getting closer to his dream in several ways. The only catch? If he goes, he may never return.
It’s hard to imagine a more fitting metaphor to describe Max Fagin’s trajectory than the Manitou Incline. The popular hike is located near Max’s childhood home in Colorado Springs and follows a path nearly straight up from there.
In the past few years, the incline is one of several hikes Max and his father Barry Fagin have been working to check off their list of accomplishments.
“I’d like to get as many of them out of the way before I have to leave… either this state or this planet,” Max said.
Leaving the planet is all Max has wanted to do for as long as anyone can remember.
July 11th, 2014
Denver Woman A Finalist To Start A Colony On Mars CBS Denver
They’re calling it the next giant leap for mankind — putting people on the surface of Mars. It may seem like science fiction, but for a Netherlands nonprofit, it’s fact.
Mars One is the project that plans to establish a permanent human settlement on Mars with crews of four departing every two years starting in 2025. But buyer beware, it’s a one-way ticket. In Denver, just shy of her 24th birthday, Elena Finley may be one of those first Mars settlers.
“Definitely the fear is there, but it’s definitely still a risk that I’m willing to take,” Finley said.
July 11th, 2014
One way trip to Mars? These Californians say ‘bring it on’ 89.3 KPCC
It’s been 45 years since NASA’s Apollo 11 mission landed the first humans on the moon.
Now, a private company called Mars One is hoping to do the same for the Red Planet in 2024.
The goal is to land four carefully selected people on Mars where they will live the rest of their lives in a small enclosed colony. Their adventures will be broadcast on TV here on Earth.
June 30th, 2014
Mars One announces Request for Proposals for 2018 Mars lander payloads Mars One
Mars One is extending a formal invitation to universities, research bodies, and companies to contribute to the payload of the 2018 unmanned Mars Lander. The best ideas will be chosen by a panel of experts. This mission will act as a staging point for the first-ever human mission to the red planet in 2025. Mars One is soliciting proposals for four demonstration payloads that will demonstrate technologies for the human mission in 2025, proposals for one payload that will be elected in a world wide university competition, and proposals for two payloads that are for sale to the highest bidder. These last two payloads can be used for scientific experiments, marketing activities or anything inbetween. “We are opening our doors to the scientific community in order to source the best ideas from around the world,” said Arno Wielders, co-founder and chief technical officer of Mars One. “The ideas that are adopted will not only be used on the lander in 2018, but will quite possibly provide the foundation for the first human colony on Mars. For anyone motivated by human exploration, there can be no greater honor than contributing to a manned mission to Mars.” The payloads will be part of the Mars One lander that will be launched in August 2018. The lander will be built on the same platform that was used for the 2007 NASA Phoenix mission. Mars One contracted Lockheed Martin, who also built the Phoenix spacecraft, to develop the mission concept study for the 2018 lander.