Stephen Fenech

A Maltese-Canadian adventurer has been shortlisted to form part of a one-way mission to Mars in the hope of establishing the planet’s first human colony.

Stephen Fenech, 45, was one of 200,000 people from 140 countries to apply for the intergalactic trip. He is now one of the last 1,000 vying for a chance to form part of the team of 24 colonisers.

“My trip to Malta last summer may have been my last, but I will be planting a Maltese flag on Mars if I get selected. That would be something; I’d be the first Maltese astronaut,” he said.

The €4 billion project, Mars One, is being organised by an international non-profit organisation set up for the mission and is planned to take to the stars by 2022.

The expedition, however, is not as distant as the launch date might suggest. Mission coordinators last week revealed plans to launch a supply mission by October 2016.

Meanwhile, back in Toronto, teleshopping director Mr Fenech believes he has what it takes to make the mission. An avid adventurer, Mr Fenech has seen more than 160 countries across seven continents.

Asked how he thought he would handle being on a different planet, Mr Fenech replied: “I’m a highly experienced forager and survivor. I’ve survived extremes of nature; from the cold of the Antarctic to the heat of the Sahara. I’ve been in a lot of life or death situations, from terrorist attacks to forest fires, hypothermia and I could just go on.”

The selection process for the mission will end with an international competition that prepares groups of candidates for life on Mars.

“The plan is to have some kind of reality show to raise funds for the project, which is actually quite a smart way of going about it,” he said.

Funded by engineer Bas Lansdorp back in 2010, the mission is set to recoup its costs by selling the broadcasting rights and scientific footage of the expedition. By comparison, NASA’s Rover Curiosity, which began exploring the planet’s surface in 2012, cost €1.8 billion.

Mr Fenech was yesterday subjected to the final round of physical examinations and is now awaiting a mental evaluation before the mission selection committee picks the 100 applicants who will progress to the next stage.

The journey time to Mars, which is some 40 million kilometres away, should take around 200 days.

However, despite the lengthy journey and perilous unchartered territory, Mr Fenech is confident in the mission’s chances.

“I look at this as just emigrating to another planet. It is a one-way trip, but so is life. Instead of spending my golden years in a retirement home in Malta, I’ll be doing something that has a profound impact on the expansion of human knowledge,” he told Times of Malta.