An ambitious project to establish a human colony on Mars has attracted applications from tens of thousands of would-be astronauts, just two weeks after applications opened.
The mission, a private venture by the Dutch non-profit organization Mars One, aims to send a crew to the Red Planet in 2022 – and, due to the physiological change in the human body after a stay on Mars, there’d be no coming back. That hasn’t deterred people, though: so far, over 78,000 people have applied to become one of Mars’ first immigrants (the company is expecting 500,000 applicants by the time applications close on August 31). “This is turning out to be the most desired job in history,” says Bas Lansdorp, co-founder of Mars One.
I – Word Understanding
Physiological change – changes of body functions
Deter – to prevent from happening
II – Have your say
1.Some facts about Mars:
● Average temperature in Mars is -58 degrees Fahrenheit (-50 degrees Celsius).
● It takes 150 – 300 days to get to Mars
● Gravity of Mars is only 38% of the gravity on earth.
2.Successful candidates will work to prepare Mars to become liveable for humans. For instance, they will install greenhouses where they could grow vegetables and other plants.
3.Many people say, criminals should be sent to Mars. Who are qualified to go?
