From Maritzburg to Mars

Meet Dr Adriana Marais, the woman who has signed up for a one-way mission to Mars.

Dr Adriana Marais grew up in Pietermaritzburg, lives in Cape Town, and has a PhD in Quantum Biology. She’s also made it her mission to be one of the first people to travel to Mars – and she plans on staying there, possibly forever. Adriana is one of 100 candidates short-listed by Mars One – an international organisation that aims to establish a permanent human settlement on Mars – to live on Mars in 2026. Although all of this may sound crazy, just five minutes with Adriana will leave you with no doubts about her sanity, and no doubts that she is completely committed to getting to – and living on – the Red Planet.

When I read about the Mars One project, there was no decision to make – I knew that I had to apply. 

Since that moment, I have had no regrets. I’m utterly convinced that dedicating the rest of my life to getting to Mars is the right decision, because my life hasn’t actually changed that much since being short-listed. I’m honoured that more people are now listening to me speak and asking for my opinion on big questions like ‘what’s the future of humanity?’, but it really feels like everything has fallen into place, rather than a drastic shift has taken place.

Mars One plans to send teams of four astronauts to Mars every two years.