Mars One, an organisation that plans to create the first human colony on the Red Planet, has announced its final 100 candidates for the mission.
Selected from 200,000 applicants, the would-be Martians include an Oxford University physicist who can recall 90 digits of the mathematical entity pi, a Virgin Media systems integration manager and a sushi chef.
The 50 women and 50 men who have made the shortlist will go through a further selection process that will test their team-working skills, as well as their ability to cope with isolation and the harsh living conditions that they would experience on Mars.
Eventually 24 people will be selected to make up the six crews of four, which Mars One says they hope to launch to the Red Planet every two years from 2024, with the aim of creating the first permanent human colony on the planet.
The mission, however, still has numerous risks and challenges to overcome with many in the scientific community sceptical about its chances of success.
For an introduction to the fourth planet from the Sun, watch the Twig film Mars.
To learn more about the prospect of humans one day colonising Mars, watch Next Stop Mars.
