‘My Mum is so proud that I am going to Mars’ says Mars One mission hopeful

Maggie Lieu, 24, of Coventry, was announced as one of the last 100 candidates for Mars One’s one-way mission to the Red Planet.

The British student reveals why she applied, how she feels about motherhood on Mars - and what her Mum thinks about her decision to die on another planet.

‘My mum was skeptical at first but it's getting more real every day. I'm her only daughter so we have quite a close bond, but she is so proud and happy for me finally making my dream come true.

‘My family and friends have been really supportive. I have been flooded with messages from everyone telling me how proud they are. I liked this one in particular: "You always said you would be an astronaut, very inspirational reading this article. Good luck with everything hun".

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‘When I opened the email I just couldn't stop smiling, I am really happy to be in the last 100 and very excited to start the first step of my journey training for Mars.

‘I've always loved science and space and it has been a dream come true. Knowing that it has never been done before makes it even more important. A lot of science has been done before, if we go to Mars we will be able to do new science and that really excites the geek in me!

‘We will have 10 years of training. We will have group training to make sure we can work in a team and get on with the people we will be spending the rest of our lives with. Technical training to brush up on all the skills we need to survive on Mars - medical, dentistry, repairs, agriculture and finally personal training to make sure we can cope in isolated conditions, to make sure we can deal with the communication time delay (between three and 22 minutes) and to make sure we maintain top shape both mentally and physically.

'I am really looking forward to this next part and meeting all the like-minded people. I think everyone will bring something incredible to the mission.

‘I am not worried about the risks yet. Most of the technology is there and the few things that aren't have 10 years to be developed. No one has done research on giving birth in low gravity so that is a risk. The radiation alone could affect the fertility of males. But in order to establish a colony on Mars, reproduction is inevitable and essential.

‘The major concern is the funding. The amount itself is small, we spend so much on war and other things every year. None the less even if the amount is not raised for Mars One, eventually someone will go to Mars and it looks like it will be in my lifetime. NASA, Spacex and other companies have been inspired by Mars One to start their own Human missions to Mars. Its the next space race!’