More Than 1,000 Short-Listed For One-Way Mars Mission

Up, up, and away.

Up, up, and away.

Organizers of an ambitious private mission to colonize Mars say they have whittled 200,000 applicants down to just over 1,000 -- including 52 Russians -- and that they hope to select the final team with the help of a reality TV show.

Mars One, the Dutch-based nonprofit foundation behind the mission, said it hopes to sell the rights to film training to help fund part of the $6 billion cost of the mission, due to begin in 2024.

Mars One said candidates will be called in for "rigorous simulations" to test their physical and emotional capabilities.

The six-month trip to Mars is intended to be a one-way ticket.

Organizers have signed a $250,000 contract with Lockheed Martin to build a concept landing module that would be sent on a 2018 unmanned test flight.

Based on reporting by AFP and "The Telegraph"