<p>Do you think that one needs to be wacky or barmy to suddenly plan to go to Mars? According to websites and data found online, there is no dearth of such people. The Common Task by Pallavi Paul and Sahej Rahal, is a film which follows the dream of two applicants from India who applied to go to Mars, through the organisation called Mars One. It plans to orgabise a one way trip to the Red Planet and aims to establish a human settlement on Mars. <br /><br /></p>.<p>“I knew that one day man will settle in Mars, but I never imagined that it will happen during my lifetime,” says CV Kamesh, a mechanical engineer, and one of the applicants. A 53-year-old married man, Kamesh says that he has heard bedtime stories about space travel by his father as a child. His wife admitted in the film that Kamesh was always curious about the world beyond Earth. He even cracked the idea on their wedding night and often during their love affair in college. Knowing his passion, she couldn’t possibly stop him from doing what he always wanted. <br /><br />Many questions may arise in minds that have no leaning towards such an idea of adventure, two being the main ones — why will anyone agree on a one-way trip to a planet where there is no evidence of life, leaving a habitable world behind? And what if they don’t survive? <br /><br />To the second question, Kamesh replies, “If man would have feared death, then we wouldn’t have travelled the sea or even the moon. Man has always been an explorer and even if few will differ, there will be those who will take these expeditions even <br />after many failures.”<br /><br />The optimism is undefeatable. According to their website, Mars One, based out of the Netherlands, has eight members including an astronaut, Nobel Prize laureate, and the former NASA Chief Technologist. Their application process was admirable, according to Kamesh. <br /><br />He says that the decision was not impulsive at all, “I was 51 when I applied, I knew that the expedition will not take place until 2023. By that time I’ll be 60 and not really needed on this planet. I actually thought the project came up when I had already lived a long life on Earth,” Kamesh explains.<br /><br />Though Kamesh has tremendous knowledge about Mars, it’s atmosphere, science and undoubted faith in the mission, his application was denied after a few rounds. <br /><br />Though the project claims to send everybody and anybody, there are some regulations which are believed to be necessary to settle on a new planet. <br /><br />“I always feared that what if they don’t take me because I am not going to be efficient <br />in reproducing there?” he exclaims.<br /><br />Kamesh can’t point out why he was rejected, but another applicant Rowena Mathew withdrew her application after some rounds. She says she was dissatisfied with the <br />administration process and controversies surrounding the donations. She affirmatively says that in no way does this mean that she will not go to Mars ever. Her interest goes beyond this particular programme and rather on the spirit of space exploration. <br /><br />“There are many such organisations and private companies, which are working on the same. And I think soon there’ll be another opportunity,” says Mathew, dropping names of a few other organisations like Elon and SpaceX. “Internet” is how both came to know about the project. <br /><br />Apparently, they both avidly search for space travel related information from much before. <br /><br /></p>
<p>Do you think that one needs to be wacky or barmy to suddenly plan to go to Mars? According to websites and data found online, there is no dearth of such people. The Common Task by Pallavi Paul and Sahej Rahal, is a film which follows the dream of two applicants from India who applied to go to Mars, through the organisation called Mars One. It plans to orgabise a one way trip to the Red Planet and aims to establish a human settlement on Mars. <br /><br /></p>.<p>“I knew that one day man will settle in Mars, but I never imagined that it will happen during my lifetime,” says CV Kamesh, a mechanical engineer, and one of the applicants. A 53-year-old married man, Kamesh says that he has heard bedtime stories about space travel by his father as a child. His wife admitted in the film that Kamesh was always curious about the world beyond Earth. He even cracked the idea on their wedding night and often during their love affair in college. Knowing his passion, she couldn’t possibly stop him from doing what he always wanted. <br /><br />Many questions may arise in minds that have no leaning towards such an idea of adventure, two being the main ones — why will anyone agree on a one-way trip to a planet where there is no evidence of life, leaving a habitable world behind? And what if they don’t survive? <br /><br />To the second question, Kamesh replies, “If man would have feared death, then we wouldn’t have travelled the sea or even the moon. Man has always been an explorer and even if few will differ, there will be those who will take these expeditions even <br />after many failures.”<br /><br />The optimism is undefeatable. According to their website, Mars One, based out of the Netherlands, has eight members including an astronaut, Nobel Prize laureate, and the former NASA Chief Technologist. Their application process was admirable, according to Kamesh. <br /><br />He says that the decision was not impulsive at all, “I was 51 when I applied, I knew that the expedition will not take place until 2023. By that time I’ll be 60 and not really needed on this planet. I actually thought the project came up when I had already lived a long life on Earth,” Kamesh explains.<br /><br />Though Kamesh has tremendous knowledge about Mars, it’s atmosphere, science and undoubted faith in the mission, his application was denied after a few rounds. <br /><br />Though the project claims to send everybody and anybody, there are some regulations which are believed to be necessary to settle on a new planet. <br /><br />“I always feared that what if they don’t take me because I am not going to be efficient <br />in reproducing there?” he exclaims.<br /><br />Kamesh can’t point out why he was rejected, but another applicant Rowena Mathew withdrew her application after some rounds. She says she was dissatisfied with the <br />administration process and controversies surrounding the donations. She affirmatively says that in no way does this mean that she will not go to Mars ever. Her interest goes beyond this particular programme and rather on the spirit of space exploration. <br /><br />“There are many such organisations and private companies, which are working on the same. And I think soon there’ll be another opportunity,” says Mathew, dropping names of a few other organisations like Elon and SpaceX. “Internet” is how both came to know about the project. <br /><br />Apparently, they both avidly search for space travel related information from much before. <br /><br /></p>
