Sonia Van Meter: Life On Mars Could Just Be 10 Years Away; Mars One Program To Take Off

Sonia Van Meter, a Texas-based Astronaut, believes that sky is no limit for her ambitions. She has set her sights beyond and it is Mars on her mind.

Matt Damon in The Martian had given the uninitiated a peek into what life could be on the Red Planet. After being abandoned accidentally on Mars, people watched with interest his survival techniques on what is thought to be a very harsh planet.

Mars One Program

Martian was fictional, yet Ms. Van Meter's Mars Mission is for real. With this, Sonia Van Meter is shortlisted for this bold Mars One Program and is enthusiastic about the challenges.

Even though skeptics have written off such an ambitious program, fraught with immense hurdles and potential setbacks, Van Meter strongly feels that Mars is not out of reach. It will perhaps take them 10 years to get there, but they eventually will.

Sonia Van Meter is so focused on the Mars One project that she is determined to be the first human to inhabit Mars. Her personal life and comfort on planet Earth are secondary to this goal-oriented lady who has set her sights very high.

Challenges Ahead

Professor Mark McCaughrean, a senior science adviser at the European Space Agency, seems a bit pessimistic about the Mars One project. He said,  "They don't have the money in place.They don't have the physics in place ... they don't have the technology in place."

Sonia Van Meter is unfazed by such flak. She said that the Mars One Program will go without a hitch and take off full throttle.

Speaking of the positives, she said, "In addition to the staggering hurdles space explorers already face, government funded space programs are up against incredible bureaucratic obstacles. Mars One has an operational freedom that NASA doesn't."

Speaking to news.com.au, Van Meter expressed confidence that Mars One will successfully find solutions to each of the challenges.

Goals Of Mars One Program

The Mars One Program plans to construct a place on Mars, which is 10 meters wide by 50 meters long. They want a space where trees can be grown.

The initial plan is to have the mission leave the Earth in March 2026. To do so, they need to improve on the technology for oxygen removal system. According to Mars One co-founder Bas Lansdorp, the technology to keep humans alive on Mars needs to be designed and tested really well. 

New Space Suit

New space suit for the Mars mission has been designed by the Mars One Program, which was inaugurated early this month.

Sonia Van Meter says that the Mars One Program is going on in full gusto. All she is waiting is for the call. As she moves ahead s determined and focused, there is surely  no looking back to Earth for Sonia now.