The departure is going to take place in 2013. However, the preparations for the flight and the further life on Mars will last about 8 years. "Future inhabitants of Mars should be 18 years old and at least 157 cm height. And of course, they should have a good health and physical condition,"said Norbert Kraft, the 'Mars One' medical director and former senior NASA analyst.

Conditions similar to those on Mars will be created for carefully selected candidates. They will live in special module-simulators, which will allow the future Mars inhabitants to live on the planet. Participants will be allowed to go outside only in special suits. After the schooling, candidates will be gradually sent on Mars in twos (the best in the male-female couples with the thought of a possible procreation). The trip will last 8 months. The return will not be possible due to technical reasons; hence, the mission of pioneers-Martians will be to build a colony on this planet. Organizers will only provide water, air, and food, which, of course, will be enough only for a certain stage of the mission. Solar panels will be used in order to get energy.

Nevertheless, desert landscapes of Mars are so tempting that potential difficulties do not push away cosmic tourists. Humanity - from what is broadly known - possesses the authentic pictures form Mars, which are regularly sent by the American space probe. They are charming, fantastic, and mysterious. In comparison to Martian never-ending plains, the Rocky Mountains and Colorado canyons seem to be a miniature. In addition, the perspective of a life in a blissful peace (you can expect a lot of peace on Mars) without intrusive neighbours is so strong and tempting that it is worth to take the risk.

There is just one question in this fascinating project: who will pay for this romantic trip? Because 38$ is enough for a train trip from one town to another on the planet Earth with a condition that the distance is reasonable. Meanwhile the organizers of the project count that it may cost about 6 billion dollars. They are planning to have a life broadcast on TV (kind of a reality show) to get such amount of money. It should be the longest and most fascinating reality show in history.

I would love to get such a "one way ticket" to Mars for some of our politicians. However, I think that this entire mission with a trip to Mars will simply start and finish with this reality show. A would-be epic space trip will just bring a lot of income and will keep naive viewers in tension.

Tadeusz Andrzejewski