The company Mars One Ventures promised last year to send people to Mars but “would not return them to Earth as it lacked the technology to get them off the planet” is bankrupt, confirmed Bas Lansdorp, the creator of Mars One.
All flights to Mars are cancelled because of the bankruptcy of the company, which planned to pick people up to the Red Planet. In 2018, Mars One ventures announced it will “send your a** to Mars” and received around 200,000 applications, according to Mr Lansdorp. The plans were really impressive but last month the Swiss Financial Notices listed Mars One as a bankrupt.
After official declaration on bankruptcy on January 15, Bas Lansdorp said he is “working to find a solution” but there is almost no hope that interplanetary mission will be completed. In fact, Marc One plans to send 100 people to Mars always seemed unreal. Even the claim of receiving 200,000 applications could never be verified.
Lansdorp’s company also planned to buy the necessary equipment with money made from a reality TV-show that would feature the candidates preparing for the trip. How they’d be preparing to get on board a spaceship that didn’t exist is anyone’s guess.
Mars One “robotic missions” that were supposed to pave the way for the humans kept getting pushed back as well — the original date of 2018 got pushed to the 2020s, but then they got pushed back much further. The way things were going, a crew of four wouldn’t have launched until 2031.
So ends the mission of Mars One Ventures, and the 100 brave or desperate people who thought that reality TV would get them to the red planet. They won’t get even one-way ticket to Mars, maybe it is the better scenario, indeed. Thankfully, NASA and SpaceX are still planning missions without involving any kind of reality TV program.