To be accepted to the Netherlands-based venture Mars One would be the chance of a lifetime. An entire life time, to be precise.
Saskatoon’s own Justin Semenoff has been interested in space his whole life, so when the opportunity arose he knew he had to apply. “The odds honestly are slim but you'll never know unless you try right and it was just taking that first step and putting in the application and we will see what happens,” he said.
Mars One isn’t like other space ventures – the people chosen to go to Mars aren’t guaranteed to return.
“The mission is to create a human settlement, not just to take pictures. We’re looking for people who want to go to Mars and stay,” explained Bryan Versteeg, the mission concept artist behind Mars One.
Semenoff is one of almost 80,000 applicants from across the globe that are hoping to head out on the one-way trip. He has a family and a son, and while leaving them would be difficult, he said the trip is about more than one person’s life.
“What we have to gain from it, and not just myself, but people as a whole, there’s so much to be learned. Just taking the first step might gain us so much,” he said.
As a sergeant in the Canadian Army, Semenoff and his family understand what it means to be without one another. “I hope he goes,” said Semenoff’s 13-year-old son, Levi. “I think that would be quite an honour and I’m really proud of him.”
Mars One plans to start sending groups of four people out as soon as 2023. So with three-phases of applications to get through and ten years to wait, Semenoff said he has a lot of time to find out exactly what he’s got himself in to should be he be chosen.
The online application for the mission closes at the end of August, but Semenoff will have to wait until Septmeber to find out if he’s one of the top 40 candidates chosen.
