Mars One says the first four people are scheduled to leave their Earth lives behind in 2023, to take the 7 month journey to Mars. (Cyril Rana, Flickr)

RADIO:

Over 200, 000 people have signed up for a one-way mission to Mars to become the first human colonisers of the Red Planet.

Organisers of the Mars One mission hope to establish a permanent human colony from 2023, and also make a reality TV show out of the attempt.

Nima Green reports for VoR.

“It’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

With these words, Neil Armstrong inspired generations of people around the world to dream of space travel becoming a reality.

And now, for a lucky few, the dream of actually living in space too is one step closer.

That’s according to Mars One.

Their ambitious £4 billion plan is to create a media sensation, by filming a reality TV show on the Red Planet.

One of the Mars One team, Paul Romer, who’s also the co-creator of world-wide hit Big Brother, says he thinks the whole world will be watching.

More than 200,000 people have signed up to vie for one of only 24 places, to be able to live, and die, on a different planet.

The huge interest in the daunting project is an indication of how successfully the space tourism sector is growing.

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