One-way tickets to Mars: why two Chinese on final 100 shortlist want to go to the Red Planet

Two mainland Chinese shortlisted for one-way tickets to Mars say they are willing to die for the cause and are hoping to overcome objections from their families.

Lin Xiaoxia and Li Dapeng are among 100 candidates shortlisted for Dutch entrepreneur Bas Lansdorp’s Mars One project, which aims to send 24 people to set up a permanent colony on the Red Planet from 2024.

They made the shortlist last week after making statements of good health and participating in online interviews. They will now take part in group challenges before the final list is announced by the end of the year.

“It came as a total surprise, because the online interview did not go smoothly due to a bad connection,” Lin, 31, a sales coordinator for a garment business in Guangzhou, said in an exclusive interview with the South China Morning Post. “I was so thrilled by the news I couldn’t fall asleep at night. I kept imagining the scene when I land on Mars.”

Astronomy lover Lin said she had been fascinated by the universe since she was a little girl.

“I think knowing more about the universe makes you more broad-minded, by realising how tiny and insignificant mankind and the earth are,” she said.