If You Applied for Trip to Mars, We Have Bad News

Mars One is bankrupt
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 12, 2019 5:34 PM CST
So That One-Way Trip to Mars Is Probably Off the Table
This image provided by NASA, assembled from a series of January 2018 photos made by the Mars Curiosity rover, shows an uphill view of Mount Sharp, which Curiosity had been climbing.   (NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS via AP, File)

Whatever happened to Mars One Ventures, the company that planned to send 24 people on a one-way trip to the red planet? In a perhaps not shocking development, it went bankrupt. The Verge notes many had long suspected the whole thing was basically a scam, with the company having no firm plan for how to actually transport humans to Mars. The Swiss financial notices confirming the company's bankruptcy, which took effect Jan. 15, were first spotted by a Redditor, and the Dutch entrepreneur who started the company confirmed the news to Engadget. He says, however, that the Mars One Foundation, a nonprofit, is still in operation (though it lacks funds to actually do anything) and that just the for-profit arm, Mars One Ventures, has been dissolved.

A since-deleted post to the Mars One website said Mars One Ventures is "currently working on a solution with an investor" and reiterated, "The bankruptcy only involves Mars One Ventures AG and does not affect the financial position of the Mars One Foundation, which is the driving force behind the mission. The Mars One Foundation is actively continuing its efforts to secure funding for mission next steps, either through the listed company or directly into the Foundation." Then, in a post on the website Tuesday, the company said a new investor would reveal its plans for the company on March 6. "For the execution of the actual voyage to Mars, the company will continue to seek strategic collaboration with renowned companies and organizations involved with the travel to Mars," the post says. "Mars One itself will focus on the even more inspiring 'being there,' the adventurous story of humans actually living on Mars, making The Red Planet their new home." (Oh, what could have been.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X