By Lasia Kretzel

Two Sask. men make Mars mission shortlist

Nov 23, 2014 | 11:39 AM

Two Saskatoon spaceman hopefuls are among the 54 Canadians and 663 people around the globe who have made it to the next round for a chance to colonize Mars.

Andrew Cooper and Justin Semenoff were shortlisted Nov. 3 for the Mars One mission, which hopes to colonize Mars with 20 people in 2024.

“I am so gung-ho about this entire thing and incredible excited but I’m also rational and I do realize my chances,” University of Saskatchewan student, Cooper said. “I won’t know how I’ll react to it until I’m actually presented with a choice to train or not.”

As a writer, Cooper said his passion has always been science fiction and the exploration of worlds beyond our own. 

He said even though the mission itself is not set in stone, he recognizes how creating a “culture of colonialism” and excitement around the possibility of living on Mars can help propel technology, human thought and space exploration. 

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“Space travel is an age that we’re entering and as surreal as it sounds, we will be travelling at least the solar system in the next several decades, if not sending probes outside of the solar system,” he said. 

Cooper said interviews for the final round will begin in December and successful candidates will be picked several months after. 

For now, Cooper prepares by reading the research packages and conducting his own research. 

“One more cut and then 40 lucky individuals travel down to California for better or for worse,” Copper said

lkretzel@rawlco.com

On Twitter: @lkretzel