--- title: A Mars One Finalist: Why I’m Volunteering to Die on Mars description: Now a Mars One finalist, Sonia Van Meter reveals what it's like to face the possibility of leaving Earth—and the people she loves—forever. canonical: https://time.com/3716823/mars-one-space-travel-finalist/ author: TIME article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-02-20T19:52:31.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:40:51.564Z article:section: Ideas og:title: A Mars One Finalist: Why I’m Volunteering to Die on Mars og:description: One of the Mars One finalists, Sonia Van Meter, reveals what it's like to face leaving Earth forever. og:url: https://time.com/3716823/mars-one-space-travel-finalist/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte5dfc2071c320309/6987804af887dc4b07e8a395/sonia-van-meter-mars-one.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: Sonia Van Meter in Washington, D.C. on Feb. 10, 2015. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: A Mars One Finalist: Why I’m Volunteering to Die on Mars twitter:description: One of the Mars One finalists, Sonia Van Meter, reveals what it's like to face leaving Earth forever. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte5dfc2071c320309/6987804af887dc4b07e8a395/sonia-van-meter-mars-one.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Why I’m Volunteering to Die on Mars > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Inside TIME: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Inside TIME is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. A closer look at TIME's latest cover and our most compelling stories. Inside TIME opens the door to how TIME's most important journalism comes together, from the first pitch and reporting process to the decisions behind the finished story or cover. Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs takes readers inside the newsroom, revealing the journalists, ideas and editorial choices behind the stories shaping the global conversation. 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It explains how TIME's journalism is made, from the first pitch through the editorial decisions behind a finished story or cover. #### How can I read about how TIME chooses its covers? Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. ## Video: A One Way Ticket to Mars: Behind the Mars One Project [Watch (HLS stream): A One Way Ticket to Mars: Behind the Mars One Project](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Qod0g2We.m3u8) (5:00)  _Published 2013-06-02. A private space venture plans to beat NASA in getting people to the red planet by at least a decade. The catch? It's a one-way trip. Mars One will now take your application._ by [Sonia Van Meter](https://time.com/author/sonia-van-meter/) ## Sonia Van Meter Feb 20, 2015 7:52 PM UTC  Sonia Van Meter in Washington, D.C. on Feb. 10, 2015. Sonia Van Meter in Washington, D.C. on Feb. 10, 2015. Marvin Joseph—The Washington Post/Getty Images by [Sonia Van Meter](https://time.com/author/sonia-van-meter/) ## Sonia Van Meter Feb 20, 2015 7:52 PM UTC It’s a peculiar thing to imagine leaving Planet Earth forever. But when a Dutch nonprofit called the [Mars One project ](http://www.mars-one.com)announced in 2013 that it was accepting applications for a one-way trip to another planet, I didn’t think twice about signing up. It started off simply enough. Answer some questions about yourself, put together an [audition video](https://community.mars-one.com/profile/92508c03-92ff-4e89-b840-84df20e3679a), and submit the application fee. More than 200,000 people answered the call, and I was excited to be one of them. That was really enough for me. I was sure my efforts would go nowhere, but at least I’d be able to say I’d thrown my hat in the ring. It’s not like I’m a trained astronaut, after all. I’m not even a scientist. I’m a political consultant with a husband, two extraordinary stepsons and a black-lab mix. But I wasn’t going to let a lack of training stop me from trying. Space exploration has inspired me since I was a little girl. I would watch _Star Trek_ with my parents and daydream about what other life forms might be out there waiting to meet us and what challenges we would face as a species if (and when) we found out we weren’t alone in the universe. As I got older, the daydreams became a tad more realistic. Could we ever reach out far enough into our galaxy to find that life? What technology would we need to develop to cover such tremendous distances? Are humans physically capable of spending that kind of time in space? These are questions we’ll no doubt wrestle with for generations to come as we take the next small steps into outer space, but one thing is certain: space exploration and colonization are the next “giant leaps” for humanity. It’s human nature to explore, to question, to look out and wonder what lies beyond the horizon. That spirit is at the heart of the Mars One project. They’ve picked up where Apollo left off, reigniting the dream of spaceflight in a way that low-earth-orbit shuttle missions, the International Space Station and unmanned cargo ships cannot. They talk of “going boldly” where we’ve yet to put human beings. But there’s just the tiniest catch. _You don’t get to come home._ That’s where I usually lose people. “How can you leave forever?” “What does your family think about this?” “Your husband’s O.K. with you leaving him?” These are the questions I’m peppered with when I tell people this is a one-way trip. And these are reasonable questions, perfectly understandable, and they deserve well-considered answers. So here they are: Space exploration is worth a human life. Every astronaut who has ever flown has known the risks they were up against once strapped into that ship. And there’s no guarantee that I won’t be crushed by a collapsing roof tomorrow or diagnosed with a terminal illness next year. Some call this a suicide mission. I have no death wish. But it would be wonderful if my death could be part of something greater than just one individual. If my life ends on Mars, there will have been a magnificent story and a world of accomplishment to precede it. But that’s not what people really want to know. “How can you leave your family/your life/Earth for certain death?” they ask. Simple: In the beginning, it didn’t seem real. This was an easy conversation because there were so many applicants. When you’re one of more than 200,000, the odds are so long that you’ll be picked—never mind the technical hurdles—that the entire enterprise seemed like a lark, both theoretical and improbable, like writing in your own name for President. If there were consequences, they seemed abstract. ### Photos from the Curiosity Rover’s First 2 Incredible Years on Mars  A full-circle view released by NASA on June 20, 2013, combined nearly 900 images taken by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover, generating a panorama with 1.3 billion pixels in the full-resolution version. The view is centered toward the south, with north at both ends. It shows NASA's Mars rover Curiosity at the 'Rocknest' site where the rover scooped up samples of windblown dust and sand. NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/EPA  NASA's Mars Curiosity Rover captures a selfie to mark a full Martian year -- 687 Earth days -- spent exploring the Red Planet. NASA/JPL  A detailed telephoto view from Curiosity shows Mount Sharp. The rover was expected to reach the 3.4-mile-high peak in February 2013, and the layered surface of the mountain should yield information to scientists on the planet's geological history. University of Arizona/JPL-Caltech/NASA  The Mar's Curiosity Rover's first photo of earth from the surface of Mars via Twitter NASA  Curiosity's tracks was taken by Navcam onboard NASA's Mars rover Curiosity, on Nov. 18 2012. University of Arizona/JPL-Caltech/NASA  Tracks from NASA's Curiosity Mars rover on Aug. 22, 2012 on Mars. NASA said the rover moved forward 15 feet, then rotated 120 degrees before reversing 8.2 feet during its first planned movement. NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/EPA  The highest point on Mount Sharp is visible from the Curiosity rover on Aug. 18, 2012\. The Martian mountain rises 3.4 miles above the floor of Gale Crater. Geological deposits near the base of Mount Sharp are the destination of Curiosity's Mars mission. NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/EPA  This image shows the robotic arm of NASA's Mars rover Curiosity with the first rock touched by an instrument on the arm. JPL-Caltech/NASA  This patch of windblown sand and dust downhill from a cluster of dark rocks is the "Rocknest" site, which was the location for the first use of the scoop on the arm of Curiosity. JPL-Caltech/MSSS/NASA  A small bright object on the ground beside the rover at the "Rocknest" site. The rover team has assessed this object as debris from the spacecraft, possibly from the events of landing on Mars. NASA  NASA's Mars rover Curiosity cut a wheel scuff mark into a wind-formed ripple at the "Rocknest" site to examine the particle-size of the ripple. For scale, the width of the wheel track is about 16 inches (40 centimeters). JPL-Caltech/NASA  A Martian rock illuminated by white-light LEDs is part of the first set of nighttime images taken by the Mars Hand Lens Imager camera. NASA  When the rover landed, it sent images from one of the hazard-avoidance cameras. The image at left was taken before the camera's dust cover was removed, the image on the right was taken after. These engineering cameras are located at the rover's base, and are lower-resolution than the color images produced by the rover's mast. University of Arizona/JPL-Caltech/NASA  NASA's Curiosity rover and its parachute are seen by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter as Curiosity descends to the surface around 10:32 p.m. PDT, Aug. 5, or 1:32 a.m. EDT, Aug. 6, 2012\. The rover is equipped with a nuclear-powered lab capable of vaporizing rocks and ingesting soil, measuring habitability, and whether Mars ever had an environment able to support life. University of Arizona/JPL-Caltech/NASA When I made the candidate list of just over 1,000, things became more interesting. People wanted to talk to me about it. I began to come up with answers and repeat them, which in itself became a way of not facing up to the potential reality of stepping off this planet forever. Staying on message became a way to stay away from my real feelings about this. Now that I’m one of one hundred, the world is watching, looking to me for answers to questions that were easily brushed off when this was all just a fantastical daydream. The reality of this presses up against me, and I stay on message to protect that private space for me and my husband where I can face the hard questions that come at night. It’s one thing to imagine the good that can come from a manned mission to Mars, but it’s quite another to tally up the cost and see one’s life on the bill. Paradoxically, I couldn’t even be contemplating this without the support of my family. My stepsons think it’s neat that their stepmom wants to fly off into space, even if it means I might not be around to see grandchildren. In doing this, I want to show them that there is no dream so great that it shouldn’t be chased. My father and sister think I’m a little nuts, but they know my reasons for doing this are about furthering a dream for mankind, not making a name for myself. And my husband, my incredible husband, has been my greatest advocate since the day I first applied. The promise I made to him on our wedding day was that our marriage would serve to make us the best versions of ourselves. He knows I’d walk away from Mars One without a second’s hesitation if he asked me to. And that’s why he won’t. He knows what this mission means to me. The first launch of human beings won’t happen until 2024\. That means we’re in Chapter 1 of a very long story. No one knows how this story will end. The mission might be scrapped over technical feasibility issues. The funding might not come together. They might have a hard time finding the right candidates. There are millions of things that have to happen for this to be a success, and there are plenty of things that can and will go wrong along the way. But Mars is humanity’s inevitable destination, and Mars One has accepted the challenge to take that next great leap. Now it’s up to us to live up to the adventure. _Read next:_ [_Astronauts Vying for One-Way Ticket to Mars May Be on Reality TV_](http://time.com/3711998/mars-one-100/?xid=time%5Freadnext) [_Listen to the most important stories of the day._](http://time.com/newsletter/the-brief/?sl%5Fautoplay=true&xid=spl-fullbrief-article) ## Transcript >> You'll never feel the winds in your hair. You will never hear the sound of walking through the snow. You won't hear the birds whistle outside. If you care a lot about these kinds of things, then you really shouldn't apply for a mission to Mars. I'm Bas Lansdorp. I'm the co- founder and CEO of Mars One and we're organizing a manned mission to Mars in the year 2023. >> Three-- >> Our requirements are very different-- >> One ,-- >> from those of the normal astronauts-- -[ unk ] space shuttle look- alikes. >> because they aren't going back home. >> Houston, now controlling-- >> And these people are going to stay there the rest of their lives. So, it's a one- way ticket, yes. -[ unk ] -[ unk ] >> I think when people hear about our project, at first, they are skeptical because ISU and NASA and the other space agencies are talking about doing this in decades. And now, there is a private organization that says they can do it in 10 years. I think if people look at our website, then I think that people are quickly convinced. >> Mars One has designed a mission that is much simpler than previous designs for Mars missions. >> Before the humans even leave from Earth, there's water and breathable air waiting for them. In 2022, the first group of four people will leave, landing in 2023, and every two years after that, we'll send an additional crew there. Our astronauts will be selected to cohabitate for the rest of their lives. They'll train for seven years, everything on how to repair anything that breaks, to take care of medical situations. They will know how to grow their own food. It's very likely impossible for them to ever return to earth because we don't have the technology to go back. Already, people are uploading their application movies to our website. >> I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid I can't do-- >> It's really fun to see people explaining why they want to leave everything they have here on Earth and start a new life on Mars. >> And can be patient and listen to us. >> Why would you leave your family, your friends? Some people also call it, you know, like social suicide. It's not because I dislike being here on Earth, but it's going to another planet and working for a new society on Mars. I like to travel around the world and see different things. -[ unk ] Maybe, Mars is the next step, you know. >> I've chosen this path. My father said, " Well, I don't understand it ," and my mother said-- she was a bit angry that I sent that e- mail. I think you only live once on this planet and why not choose for a life- changing experience. >> The total cost of getting the first four people on Mars will be about 6 billion US dollars and this is how we will finance it. We will have the world watch how humans fly to Mars, how they land on Mars, what life on Mars will be like. We want the world to elect the envoys of mankind to the next planet. The final vote will be given to the audience. >> Six billion dollars is a lot of money, but imagine what will happen when humans land on Mars. Everybody will be glued to their TV screens or to their tablet screens and will watch it happen. When Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon, everybody watched. And imagine doing the same in this media era where everybody has a screen in their pocket. >> Now, I think that reality TV from Mars will be completely different than reality TV from Earth because reality TV from Mars is inherently interesting. Telling this story, the biggest adventure of mankind to the world, that will be our way of financing it. For me, it would really change the world. To imagine that we are sitting here, and at the same time, there's people on Mars, that's really something that would mean a step in the evolution of our species. >> That's one small step for man-- >> The US landing people on the moon gave that sense of achieving a common goal together. If you can put humans on Mars, it will give everyone in the world the feeling that you can do anything. 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