The maverick startup company, Mars One, has selected over 1,000 would be and hopeful emigrants who have applied for a one-way trip to Mars. The pool of applicants included over 200,000 people.

Several questions immediately come to mind. Why would anyone voluntarily apply for a one-way trip to Mars, let alone to anyplace? How is it possible to establish a permanent settlement on another planet? After a few generations, are the survivors still earthlings or are they Marsians? What kind of relations will these Marsians have with Earth?

Hollywood has produced many sci-fi films about missions to Mars and various expeditions and settlements on other planets. Mars One appears to be attempting to bring planetary settlement ideas to reality.

Thanks to many technological advances, scientific explorations and other observations of Mars, we do understand a great deal about the challenges of getting to, and living on, the planet. Mars One claims to have developed a realistic plan to establish a permanent settlement there. An underlying element of the plan is to use existing technology to be provided by established aerospace suppliers.

The initial departure from Earth will require the use of several launches in order to move a good deal of equipment into low earth orbit. There will be some systems assembly in orbit before departing for Mars. The human crew will be launched last to complete in-orbit assembly. Several launch vehicles are anticipated, including SpaceX's Falcon Heavy.

During the transit to Mars the human crew will experience a heliocentric coast around the sun for about seven months. As envisioned, the Mars transit vehicle will include multiple propulsion stages, one for Earth departure, one for entering an orbit about Mars, and one for a landing module that will take the crew to the planetary surface. The landing module may be similar to the existing crew capsules for ISS crew transfers.

In preparation for human settlers, two rovers will be sent to Mars before humans arrive. One of them will explore the surface of Mars in search of the most suitable location for the settlement, for transport of large hardware components and then general assembly. A second rover will be used for transporting the landing capsules. The settlers will use a communications system consisting of two relay satellites that will facilitate signal transmits between Mars and Earth.

Obviously, a one-way trip makes the mission much simpler, in terms of technology and cost, than a round-trip endeavor. However, the permanent emigration of humans to a new and challenging environment introduces a whole new set of psychological and physiological issues.

Mars offers life on a cold, hostile planet without the presence of friends and family. Communications between Earth and Mars will help, but real-time conversations will not be possible because there will be a several-minute delay for each transmission due to the large distance between the two planets.

Mars One, a Dutch not-for-profit organization, relies on donations and is currently trying to fund a Mars satellite and lander that will allow early live-streaming of events from the red planet. Mars One argues that everyone who dreams the way the ancient explorers dreamed will want to go on this life-changing venture.