India to host Million Martian Meet

The night of January 6 was an exciting one for 62 Indians livingin different parts of the country A few of them decided to retire to bed early just like any other day while a few others decided to pull an allnighter For on January 6 these 62 people who have been shortlisted for the second round of a highly publicised oneway trip to Mars in the year 2024 were asked to expect an email about round two from trip organiser Mars One a Netherlandsbased nonprofit organisation Mars One aims to set up a permanent lsquohuman colonyrsquo in the red planet by the year 2025 for which four welltrained applicants will be sent there in the year 2024Illustration Amit BandreAmulya Rastogi a mechanical engineering student based in Gurgaon is one among those who spent the night awake in front of his laptop waiting for the email It finally came at 130 am on December 7 So when we catch up with the 20yearold for a quick chat early in the day he begins the interview with the most unusual conversation starter ldquoI am sleepyrdquo says a groggy RastogiLater without divulging any confidential detail Rastogi explains that the email asks applicantsrsquo physicians to fill out the Mars One Applicant Medical Statement for the selection committee It also instructs applicants to make their profiles public on the applicant site and thus visible to all visitorsThe round places prime importance on accessing applicantsrsquo physical fitness and medical health But Rastogirsquos immediate concern however is organising Indiarsquos first Million Martian Meet at The Institution of Engineers India Karnataka State Centre in Bangalore on January 25 With the first edition of this meet India will be the fourth country in the world to host a Million Martian Meet after the United States Germany and RussiaIndiarsquos first Million Martian MeetlsquoCome and meet your fellow Martians Mars One Astronaut Applicants at the Million Martian Meeting in Indiarsquo calls out the eventrsquos invite lsquoGet to know what made them apply to the most daring call in historyrsquoWhen we talk about the meet Rastogirsquos excitement is almost palpable at the other end of the telephone line ldquoI first heard about the Million Martian Meet in the US last year and I wanted to go for it but didnrsquot have money So I decided to organise onerdquo he says Rastogi who has now made a habit of signing all his emails as lsquoAmulya Nidhi Rastogi Mars One Astronaut Applicantrsquo started preparing for the event in September last year with help from developed startups as sponsorsThe meet which is open to anyone interested in learning about Mars space and life beyond Earth has an interesting schedule There is a speech by American author and aerospace engineer Dr Robert Zubrin for around 40 minutes via Skype The CEO of Mars One Bas Lansdorp is also expected to make a presentation and the movie One Way Astronaut will also be screened ldquoSo far 70 to 80 people have confirmed they are attending the meetrdquo adds RastogiA changed life on EarthGoing to Mars and staying there is not a decision that these applicants made on a whim They either look at it as a great service to the field of space science and research or as one big exciting adventureIt was on New Yearrsquos Eve last year that Mumbaibased Abhimanyu Singh received an email from Mars One informing him of his selection for round two ldquoI was very happy when I received itrdquo recalls Singh The software engineer explains that he was always fascinated by the subject of space exploration and is an avid viewer of Discovery ChannelEnrolling for the expedition and his subsequent selection has changed Singhrsquos life in more ways than one For starters he has begun to hit the gym with a vengeance and has so far shed four kgs in a couple of months He has also rekindled an old interest in learning German and has begun to finetune his Englishspeaking skills ldquoI studied in a Hindi medium school but for this mission Mars applicants must know English as their first languagerdquo he says Singh is also one among the many expected at the Million Martian Meet ldquoI have already booked my flight tickets It will be nice to meet likeminded people Here my friends either think the mission is a scam or they tease me or they ask for a treatrdquo he laughsMumbaibased filmmaker and writer Anil Sadarangani too has been shortlisted for the next round ldquoI am planning to somehow increase my height for the missionrdquo says the 35yearold gravely A shocked silence ensues and he bursts out laughing ldquoI am just kiddingrdquo chuckles Sadarangani On the contrary the former journalist is determined to continue living in the most normal way possible ldquoI read somewhere that one candidate has already isolated himself by moving into a house or room alone in preparation of the expeditionrdquo he saysInterestingly the shortlisted candidates havenrsquot given much thought to the repercussions of their decision 10 years later when they may have families of their own While Sadarangani says that his parents were fine with his decision ldquoI think they want to get rid of merdquo he laughs Singh who lost his parents years ago says that marriage scares him ldquoBut still if I am interested in a girl and she is not comfortable with the Mars mission I will not proceed with the relationshiprdquo he says ldquoMaking it to Mars is my topmost priorityrdquoMarriage may not necessarily scare Rastogi but there is something else that unsettles him so much that he has had dreams about it ldquoPyramidsrdquo says Rastogi ldquoI always wonder lsquoWhat if I see pyramids in Mars and that scares merdquo Why ldquoBecause then it will be clear that we are not alone in the universerdquo he laughsA lot like MarsThe crewrsquos journey to get to Mars will be shot for a 24hour reality TV show that will partly fund the mission Everything about the mission is incredible enough but still Mars hit headlines last week for the unlikeliest of reasons mdash the big chill in the US According to reports the temperature in the country plunged to such new depths that it was lower than on the surface of Mars It looks the Americans have already had a taste of what itrsquos like to be on Mars