Mission to Mars reveals some down-to-earth problems
Jingan Young says the very idea of a reality TV show featuring contestants battling to join a one-way trip to Mars tells us much about life on earth
Last week, it was announced that 25-year-old Hong Kong-born Birdy Cheng Yu-pang had acquired a place on the Mars One project, a one-way expedition to establish a "self-sustaining colony" by 2025 on the red planet. Given Cheng's belief that planet earth is polluted and hopeless, does this mission to Mars suggest a widely shared dissatisfaction with life?
Watch: Birdy Cheng on why he wants to live on Mars
Based in the Netherlands, the ambitious "non-profit" organisation Mars One has attracted over 200,000 applications from all over the world since it began its search for recruits last year. The ethos - to "captivate and inspire generations" - may be worthy, but the idea behind the project recalls the David Bowie song Life on Mars?, whose lyrics, including "It's the freakiest show", appear to ring true.
The selection has been whittled down to 1,058 women and men who will move on to the next two phases of the process, which include both a medical "strength and weakness" test as well as a series of group challenges. These teams will then compete against one another to make the final cut.
Does any of that sound familiar?
Last year, The New York Times ran a story on the Mars One project. Its founder and "executive producer" is Bas Lansdorp, a Dutch engineer who managed to raise the funding needed to get the inaugural landing crew there in 2023 by proposing a reality TV show. A "space race" between men and women would be broadcast internationally as a "multiyear reality television show".