Life on Mars: Could we really survive on another planet?

Nasa is on the hunt for recruits to spend a year living in a Mars simulation, writes Andrew Griffin. Do you have what it takes to thrive? And how close are we to sending explorers on the 500-day journey to the Red Planet?

Two astronauts walk in spacesuits during a training mission for planet Mars at the Ramon Crater in Mitzpe Ramon in Israel's southern Negev desert, 2021 (AFP/Getty)

You’ll need to be healthy and motivated, proficient in English and in possession of a master’s degree. Successful applicants for this particular job can’t be smokers and – importantly – will need a “strong desire for unique, rewarding adventures”.

If that sounds like you, there’s a chance you could land one of the most out-of-this-world jobs there is: one of the first people on “Mars”.

Nasa isn’t yet ready to send people to the actual Red Planet. That 500-day, tens-of-millions-of-miles mission isn’t expected until the 2030s – and Nasa has been prone to delays that mean it could easily stretch long past that. It hasn’t actually got a spacecraft that could carry people that far.