Mars One - Our beginning to colonize space

Mars Transit Vehicle

Hey its been a while. I have decided to go off topic a little and give you some information about Mars One. 

Mars One is a mission to colonize Mars by 2023. Most part of the reason why I want more people to be informed about this is because we get to help choose who gets to go. Yes we get to vote on the future international astronauts that will be starting a colony on mars. Below is how the selection process will take place taken from http://www.mars-one.com:

Round 1: All candidates must submit their application on http://apply.mars-one.com. The online application consists of general information about the applicant, a motivational letter, a resume and a one minute video in which the applicant answers some given questions and explains why he or she should be among the first humans who set foot on Mars. At this stage the potential candidates can submit their application in one of the 11 most used languages on Internet: English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Russian, Arabic, Indonesian, Chinese Mandarin, Japanese, Korean. Approved application videos are available to be watched by everyone on http://applicants.mars-one.com, if an applicant decides to make his or her application video public. At the end of round one, a team of Mars One experts will decide which applicants will pass to round two. 

Round 2: Candidates for round 2 will need to get a medical statement of good health from their physician. The applicant will be invited to meet with a Mars One selection committee. After conducting an interview with the candidates, the selection committees determines who will pass to round three. 

Round 3: This round is the regional selection round, which could be broadcasted on TV and internet in countries around the world. In each region, 20-40 applicants will participate in challenges that demonstrate their suitability to become one of the first humans on Mars. The audience will select one winner per region and Mars One experts will select additional participants to continue to round four. 

Round 4: Those who pass to round four will be expected to be able to communicate in English. The applicants will be responsible to reach this level of English. Round 4 will be an international event that will be broadcasted throughout the world. The Mars One selection committee will create international groups from the individual candidates. The groups will be expected to demonstrate their ability to live in harsh living conditions, and work together under difficult circumstances. The groups will receive their first short term training in a copy of the Mars outpost. From the first selection series, of which Round 1 starts in 2013, six groups of four will become full time employees of the Mars One astronaut corps, after which they will train for their mission. Whole teams and individuals might be selected out during training when they prove not to be suitable for the mission.

The selection terms and procedures are subject to change.

Keep an eye out and read more at http://www.mars-one.com/en/