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Onward and upward...
Sep. 3rd, 2013 02:34 amJust received... it's 2:54 EST as I start to write this... (sorry, not 3:47 EST). I have made it past "Round 0" of the Mars One selection process and my profile and intro video are now public if you care to take a look (hey, actual real-world images of me, a rare thing indeed). The application process is now closed as well. I will publish some of the other stuff I wrote at a later date as I have to get up in 4 hours to get my younger daughter to the first day of school for the 2013-2014 year. The email read:
Congratulations! We are pleased to inform you that your application has been approved by a Mars One moderator. This email confirms that you now have applied for a position in Mars Ones astronaut selection program.
Your application does not guarantee placement for the next round of the Mars One astronaut application process. The accepted applications will be assessed after the first of September 2013. If you have been selected to proceed to the following selection round, we will send you an email to notify you if you have been selected or not.
I should received a yay/nay answer on "Round 1" (which included the application process) by the end of September and, if I make it to "Round 2" will have 4 weeks to reply. Not exactly sure with what, but I know that I will have to provide "a medical statement of good health from [my] physician" (which should be fairly easy considering I hold a valid aviation medical certificate), and then there will be an interview with a regional selection committee (one source says there are 300 such committees). "Round 3" is where things get somewhat weird in what sounds like a cross between a reality TV show and popularity contest. The phrase that interests me most is: "The audience will select one winner per region and Mars One experts will select additional participants to continue to round four" (taken from the Mars One applications site FAQ) which sounds like not all the candidates are going to be chosen by that method. It is obvious to me that this round is the big attempt to raise hype and money for the project and it seems entirely reasonable that, essentially, social media is used as a tool for doing so. The final composition of the teams sound like it will be balanced between neo-celebrities and perhaps less flashy, but maybe more deeply capable, folk. "Round 4" will see groups of four assembled and tested and trained, again in what sounds like a reality TV series, and six of those groups will go on to be full-time astronaut trainees (and one of those groups will be on the first mission). There are obviously a lot of questions about the ability of the Mars One organization to pull such an ambitious project together, and doubly so in the time frame they are aiming for, but pretty much anything is possible if enough people want to see it done.
As for my chances, well, I do hope to at least make it into Round 2 and think I might have a chance at entering Round 3 (or I wouldn't have bothered applying), although after that there are so many (possibly random) variables I couldn't hazard a guess at whether or not I'd make it any further or even how I'd fare at that point. I have continuously done what I could to advance my goal of getting into space including applying for spots in various research projects including HI-SEAS, MARS-500, and a few years earlier than that, the Canadian Arrow project (an X-Prize candidate team) where I made it to the final selection round (one of 30 for 6 positions)... I obviously didn't cut it, but given the calibre of those that did, I feel nothing but amazement that I made it to that point as I was obviously a wildcard entry. Given that I will soon have fresh new degrees in theoretical physics and feminism, I think I make an intriguing candidate. If nothing else, this adventure, however it turns out, will make for some great stories ;).
Congratulations! We are pleased to inform you that your application has been approved by a Mars One moderator. This email confirms that you now have applied for a position in Mars Ones astronaut selection program.
Your application does not guarantee placement for the next round of the Mars One astronaut application process. The accepted applications will be assessed after the first of September 2013. If you have been selected to proceed to the following selection round, we will send you an email to notify you if you have been selected or not.
I should received a yay/nay answer on "Round 1" (which included the application process) by the end of September and, if I make it to "Round 2" will have 4 weeks to reply. Not exactly sure with what, but I know that I will have to provide "a medical statement of good health from [my] physician" (which should be fairly easy considering I hold a valid aviation medical certificate), and then there will be an interview with a regional selection committee (one source says there are 300 such committees). "Round 3" is where things get somewhat weird in what sounds like a cross between a reality TV show and popularity contest. The phrase that interests me most is: "The audience will select one winner per region and Mars One experts will select additional participants to continue to round four" (taken from the Mars One applications site FAQ) which sounds like not all the candidates are going to be chosen by that method. It is obvious to me that this round is the big attempt to raise hype and money for the project and it seems entirely reasonable that, essentially, social media is used as a tool for doing so. The final composition of the teams sound like it will be balanced between neo-celebrities and perhaps less flashy, but maybe more deeply capable, folk. "Round 4" will see groups of four assembled and tested and trained, again in what sounds like a reality TV series, and six of those groups will go on to be full-time astronaut trainees (and one of those groups will be on the first mission). There are obviously a lot of questions about the ability of the Mars One organization to pull such an ambitious project together, and doubly so in the time frame they are aiming for, but pretty much anything is possible if enough people want to see it done.
As for my chances, well, I do hope to at least make it into Round 2 and think I might have a chance at entering Round 3 (or I wouldn't have bothered applying), although after that there are so many (possibly random) variables I couldn't hazard a guess at whether or not I'd make it any further or even how I'd fare at that point. I have continuously done what I could to advance my goal of getting into space including applying for spots in various research projects including HI-SEAS, MARS-500, and a few years earlier than that, the Canadian Arrow project (an X-Prize candidate team) where I made it to the final selection round (one of 30 for 6 positions)... I obviously didn't cut it, but given the calibre of those that did, I feel nothing but amazement that I made it to that point as I was obviously a wildcard entry. Given that I will soon have fresh new degrees in theoretical physics and feminism, I think I make an intriguing candidate. If nothing else, this adventure, however it turns out, will make for some great stories ;).
