One-way ticket – to Mars
Jantima Kaenthaow has seen the world. Now she is competing for a chance to visit the planet Mars even though such a trip would mean that she would have to stay there forever.
Jantima Kaenthaow has seen the world – every continent – and now she has a more ambitious journey in mind.
She wants to go the planet Mars, even though such a trip would mean that she would have to stay there foreverbecause, currently at least, there is no way to return to Earth.
There is more than just an idle dream. The 42-year-old freelancebusiness consultant has applied to the controversial Mars Oneproject which aims to put four people on the Red Planet in 2024.
More than 200,000 people reportedly applied and 660, passed round one. One of them was Ms Jantima.
Now her goal is to get through the next round which will narrowthe field to 24.
Even if she becomes one of the four chosen for the first mission, there is no guarantee that the project will get off the ground.
At the moment it still lacks a spacecraft and funding isrelatively thin. Businesswoman Janitima says, however, that will change when things get serious. "It’s something that has never happened before, and everyone would want to become asponsor.”
A more serious concern, however, is how the explorers could hope to survive in the hostile Martian environment where average temperatures are - 60C, exposure to solar radiation is high and gravity is only 38% that of Earth’s.
That worries the experts, but not Ms Jantima.