Mission to Mars

Space travel hopeful Ethan Dederick '14 makes the Mars One top 100

Ethan Dederick '14 has come one small step closer to being the first human on Mars: two years after applying to be an astronaut with Mars One, a Dutch nonprofit that hopes to colonize the red planet starting in 2025, the organization has named Dederick one of 100 finalists for a spot on its first manned mission.

"You can't discover new lands unless you're not afraid to lose sight of the shore," Dederick, a Ph.D. candidate in theoretical astrophysics at New Mexico State University, said of his intention to be a part of the project.

If chosen as one of the four-member crew, he'll endure a decade of isolation training on Earth, seven months in space, then permanent residency in a lonely, Habitrail-like outpost on barren, rocky Mars. The plan does not include a return trip to Earth. It does, however, include start-to-finish documentation: every moment will be televised, as advertising will be the project's main source of funding.

"Throughout history, people have had crazy ideas," Dederick said. With the benefit of hindsight, he pointed out, we can see how crazy ideas sometimes become commonplace-if they work. "A little bit of hope needs to come in. There are a lot of things that fail, that are new, and people have a difficult time comprehending what has not yet been achieved."

Despite the fact that very little of Mars One's plan has ever been achieved before-using technology that doesn't quite exist yet, for example, to build a settlement in a suitable spot on another planet before the first astronauts even arrive-Dederick is not alone in cultivating the necessary hope: the organization reported that more than 200,000 people around the globe registered for the chance to go to Mars.

The 50 men and 50 women selected for the top 100 passed an extensive interview process involving detailed memorization about Mars, the mission plan and its mechanics. Norbert Kraft, Mars One's chief medical officer and a former NASA scientist with expertise in the psychology of space missions, evaluated Dederick's potential and knowledge, ultimately ushering him into the next round.

"You need to be able to work in a team, survive incredibly harsh environments...you need to be able to solve problems quickly and efficiently and creatively," Dederick said. "Having a sense of humor will be incredibly important."

Next will come a further cull of the candidates, pared down until 20 to 40 remain; six or so teams of four potential astronauts will then become full-time employees of Mars One by the end of 2015, at which point the chosen few will relocate to an outpost simulation in some remote corner of the planet yet to be announced. There, they will learn to repair the systems that will keep them alive on Mars, to grow their own food, to heal each other.

If all goes according to plan, the first crew will arrive on Mars in 2025, followed two years later by another set of four well-trained astronauts, then, in another two years, four more, and so on into the future.

Some have questioned the feasibility of the Mars One project in its current shape. An analysis of the plan's logistics by MIT students, for example, suggested that the environmental controls proposed for the Mars outpost would fail to support human life beyond a period of three months.

Another criticism has to do with the project's $6 billion estimated cost. NASA's estimate for a similar mission is $100 billion. Although NASA has factored in a return trip, it's still unclear that $6 billion will be enough for Mars One's purposes. Critics are also skeptical that Mars One will be able to raise that much, despite the fact that the global appeal of filming the astronauts' journey will likely attract companies willing to advertise during broadcasts of the astronauts' training and flight.

Dederick has looked at the financial plan for Mars One and isn't worried. "The economic feasibility of this is there," he said. "I believe they can do it."

Unfazed by the mission's one-way nature, Dederick said he would be satisfied just to be one of the first people to colonize Mars, impacting the future of humankind.

"I don't see the point of living if you don't at least attempt to do something great."

Although Dederick is optimistic that the Mars One project will be successful, he's still planning for the possibility that it won't involve him, and preparing to take the more traditional route toward becoming an astronaut, finishing his doctorate and applying to NASA. "If Mars One does not work out, I need my Ph.D. to do what I want to do," he said. "My dream job doesn't exist right now-to be an interplanetary explorer, to planet hop. Studying astrophysics is fantastic, but being able to see and touch [space], that would be phenomenal."