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She dreams of the Red Planet
French journalist among 200,000 volunteers for $7.6b Mars colonisation project
SPACE JUNKIE: Ms Florence Porcel, the French candidate of the Mars One settlement project. An artist's rendition of a settlement on Mars.
A comfortable, middle-class Parisian life may be the envy of many people, but Ms Florence Porcel, 30, would give it all up to be among the first Earthlings to settle on Mars - even with no option of return.
"I have always felt a bit cramped on Earth," the self-confessed space junkie told AFP, delighted to be shortlisted with some 1,000 other aspiring voyagers for Mar One - a private project to colonise the Red Planet from 2024.
"I have always dreamt of exploring other worlds," the journalist said.
She is among about 200,000 people from around the world who volunteered for the extraordinary project. It would see two dozen pioneers abandon Earth for a new start on a cold, dry, oxygenless planet some 55 million km away.
The cost of the project, an estimated US$6 billion dollars, precludes the option of a return trip.
The trial resettlement is meant mainly funded by a reality-TV show about the project.
The final 24 would be sent to the Red Planet in six separate launches starting in 10 years, said the Dutch-based non-profit group behind the endeavour.
A total of 1,058 shortlisted candidates from 140 countries were informed on Dec 30 that they had made the first cut after going through an online vetting process that included an extensive questionnaire.
Mar One said the criteria include an "indomitable spirit", "good judgment" and "a good sense of play". The interplanetary pioneers must also be disease and drug-free, and English-speaking.
The list will be finalised next year after further medical and psychological tests.
PROJECT'S FEASIBILITY
Many experts scoff at the project's feasibility, questioning whether the participants would survive the physical perils and demands on their sanity.
Ms Porcel said she was under no illusions about the challenge.
"We will be trying to survive on a hostile planet: Even breathing, drinking and eating won't be a given. We will need a lot of hard work, energy and expertise...also some luck!" she said.
A world away from the life that awaits the pioneers - growing their own food in air-locked pods protecting them from Mars' thin, unbreathable atmosphere and sub-zero temperatures - the decor in Ms Porcel's small apartment near Paris is cosy and girly.
But her life's passion is evident from the heavy sprinkling of space paraphernalia in-between - a hanging mobile of the Solar System, photos of the journalist floating in a zero-gravity experimental flight, and a large collection of books on astrophysics.
She said: "I would really love to help find answers to some of Mankind's existential questions...
"I am part of a generation that hasn't seen a human set foot on a celestial body other than Earth", since the end of the Moon missions in 1972.
"If Mars One gives me the chance, I will do it! It will be a first for mankind!" she said, adding she had no plans to settle down or have children.
But there are doubts, too.
"For now, I am ready to see this through. If I make it to the final 24 and find myself on the launch pad...perhaps it will be different..." said Ms Porcel.
"I reserve the right to change my mind."
