territories that humans can reach for.” The prime attributes Mars One is looking for in astronaut-settlers are resilience, adaptability, curiosity, ability to trust and resourcefulness, according to Kraft. They must also be over 18. Founded in 2010 by Bas Lansdorp, an engineer, Mars One says it has developed a realistic road map and financing plan for the project based on existing technologies and that the mission is perfectly feasible. The website states that the basic elements required for life are already present on the planet. For instance, water can be extracted from ice in the soil and Mars has sources of nitrogen, the primary element in the air we breathe. The colony will be powered by specially adapted solar panels, it says. Mars One said it had signed a contract with the American firm Paragon Space Development Corporation to take the first steps in developing the life support system and spacesuits fit for the mission. The project will cost a reported $6bn, a sum Lansdorp has said he hopes will be met partly by selling broadcasting rights. “The broadcasting revenue from the London Olympics was almost enough to finance a mission to Mars,” Lansdorp said, in an interview with ABC News. Another ambassador to the project is Paul Römer, the co-creator of Big Brother, one of the first, and most successful, reality TV shows. On the website, Römer gave an