自从载人火星探险计划进入实操阶段，人类距离实现“移民太空”的梦想似乎越来越近。由非营利性组织发起的“火星一号”计划公布两周以来，已收到来自全球120多个国家和地区的78000多名申请者报名，其中美国和中国的申请者人数最多。
File Photo: This image from NASA's Curiosity rover shows the first sample of powdered rock extracted by the rover's drill.
File photo: The image shows the Curiosity is preparing to drill into a Red Planet rock for the first time and delve deeper into a site that was exposed to liquid water long ago.
Houston (CNS) -- The United States and China are at the top of the list among more than 120 countries for one-way trips to Mars after the organizer opened its application process two weeks ago.
Altogether, 78,000 people have applied for the program called Mars One, with 17,324 from the United States and 10,241 from China. The United Kingdom is in third place, with only 3,581 Britons keen to leave Earth.
The organizer of Mars One, a Dutch non-profit enterprise, said it aims to land four people on Mars in 2023 as the vanguard of a permanent settlement, with more arriving two years later.
"With 78,000 applications in two weeks, this is turning out to be the most desired job in history," Mars One CEO and co-founder Bas Lansdorp said in a statement. "These numbers put us right on track for our goal of half a million applicants," according to the Huffington Post and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
Anyone who is at least 18 years old can apply, and an application video must be included. The deadline is Aug 31.
自从载人火星探险计划进入实操阶段，人类距离实现“移民太空”的梦想似乎越来越近。由非营利性组织发起的“火星一号”计划公布两周以来，已收到来自全球120多个国家和地区的78000多名申请者报名，其中美国和中国的申请者人数最多。
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