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For the first time in the history of humankind, economical participation in space exploration is a reality. With Mars One's recent launch of a crowdfunding campaign, it's now possible to send a personal item to distances far beyond your wildest dreams. For many, the Mars One mission is the gateway to a new era in man's historic reach for the stars.

For about 50 years, government organizations have been funding and managing space exploration across the globe. Government run exploration, funded by public monies, has provided limited access to most citizens of those countries. In the last few years, private organizations such as Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic and Eric Anderson's Space Adventures have made space exploration possible for the mega-rich. A flight with Virgin Galactic 68 miles above Earth goes for a cool $250,000 while the potential 2017 flight to the moon from Space Adventures is rumored to cost an astronomical $150 million. There are others in between, but none as accessible as Mars One. Bas Lansdorp, co-founder of Mars One, has set his sights on involving the everyday man and woman in space exploration

Mars One will establish a permanent human settlement on Mars. Crews of four will depart every two years, starting in 2024. Our first unmanned mission will be launched in 2018. Participate in this mission to Mars through our crowdfunding campaign.

Mars One will establish a human settlement on Mars. You can participate in the first major step: a private Mars Lander and Satellite mission in 2018.

A father of four, who applied for a one-way-ticket to live on Mars, could be looking at a divorce as a result of his extraterrestrial ambition.

Ken Sullivan made it the next stage of the Mars One project, which could potentially see him making a new life on Mars - but his wife and children are not happy about the news.

Mr Sullivan, who lives in Utah, is among the 1,058 applicants selected so far who could colonise the red planet and never return to their families and friends on Earth.

In April 2013, Mars One opened up applications for aspiring astronauts. By the time the application period had closed, more than 200,000 people had applied. Mars One's goal is to pick 28 to 40 candidates by the end of 2015 and train them for their mission.

Here are the steps Kraft is currently undergoing to find the crews for the Mars mission:

How feasible is the Mars One plan?
Currently, it's not. One of the biggest claims made by the Mars One team is that absolutely no new technology needs to be developed for the success of their mission, which is setting up a colony on Mars. We found that there are several cases for systems like the environmental control and life support where that's just not true.

The Mars One project has narrowed down its list of applicants to 100 people, who will now go through further training before the final team is selected.

More than 200,000 people applied to Mars One in 2013, hoping to be chosen to colonize Mars. Applicants had to be at least 18 years old, healthy and between 5'2" and 6'3" tall, as well as fulfilling various personality requirements such as exhibiting adaptability, resiliency, and resourcefulness. During the next round of the selection process, the number was whittled down to 660 during a series of interviews and tests, while the next round will give the remaining 100 people a chance to train in teams in an earthbound copy of the future Mars outpost.