WANTED: Astronauts to build the first human space settlement. On Mars.

That's right, private space venture company, Mars One is planning to boldly go where no men have gone before.

The not-for-profit company has already received 1000 applications for astronauts to build the first space community on Mars in 2023.

Successful applicants will have to undergo eight years of training and education before travelling to their new home on the red planet.

Also they will be required to donate the rest of their natural born lives.

"The Mars One astronauts will depart Earth with the assumption they will never return," it says on the Mars One website.

"Mars becomes their new home, where they will live and work for what will likely be the remainder of their lives."

(That sentence was strangely omitted from the Astronaut Selection announcement).

The first 24 candidates will be selected by a global vote, as part of a reality TV show that will help raise money through the project.

The show will feature everything from astronaut training, through to first arrival on mars to the beginning of work on the red planet.

If the applicants are anything like the contestants on reality shows like Big Brother then mankind has a lot to fear.

A science or military degree is not necessary but applicants must possess "a deep sense of purpose, willingness to build and maintain healthy relationships, the capacity for self-reflection and ability to trust."

Applicants must also be "resilient, adaptable, curious, creative and resourceful".

While it is possible that early Mars settlers may be able to return to Earth, according to Mars One "it cannot be anticipated or expected”.

"Consider the following: to return a human to Earth, there must be a fully assembled and fuelled launch vehicle (rocket) capable of escaping the gravitational field of Mars, with ample, on-board life support systems and supplies for up to a seven months voyage, and capability to either dock with a space station orbiting the earth, or perform a safe re-entry and landing on this planet," it says on the website.

"Not one of these is a small endeavour, each requiring substantial technical capacity, weight, and cost."

Mars also has a 38 per cent gravitational field which humans will have to adjust to. The change in gravitational force causes bone density and muscle strength to decrease and blood circulation to change.

While astronauts on board the Soviet space station, MIR, were able to return to Earth after 13 months in a weightless environment, according to the Mars One website "there may be aduration on Mars after which the human body will not be able to adjust to the higher gravity of Earth upon return".

On the upside, Mars settlers will be provided with safe living facilities with clean air, and potable water, food rations until such time as plants can be grown in green houses, as well as "essentials for intellectual stimulation on a planet which is otherwise cold, desolate and without many life giving qualities".

Understandably, applicants must be at least 18 years, physically fit and psychologically stable.

The plan to send humans on a mission to mars was announced in July last year and the recruitment announcement comes about five months after the Dutch company received its first funding from official sponsors including Dutch ISP Byte Internet, and Australian search-engine optimisation firm, Dejan SEO.

The mission is estimated to cost about US$6 billion (about A$5,669,329,900).

Do you have eight years and the rest of your life to spare? Can you survive an eternity on a brand new desolate planet? Can you be trusted with the survival of mankind in space?

Visit Mars One to apply.

Originally published as Wanted: Humans to populate Mars colony - forever