An Irish astrophysicist is among a shortlist of hopefuls who are still in the running to become the first humans to travel to Mars.

Dr Joseph Roche, who works for Science Gallery and Trinity College Dublin, was this morning named on the list of 100 candidates in the third round selection process for Mars One.

Over 200,000 people applied to take part in the privately funded one-way mission to the red planet.

They have been whittled down through a screening, medical and interview process to 100.

The last round saw 660 candidates take part in online interviews.

Mars One aims to create a permanent human settlement on the red planet, with crews of four departing every two years beginning in just under ten years.

It is backed by Dutch entrepreneur Bas Lansdorp, who intends to send a series of robotic missions to Mars over the coming years, to prepare an infrastructure for the arrival of humans.

The missions will be funded privately through crowdfunding and the creation of a reality TV show around the project.

It is estimated the total cost of the missions will be around $6bn (€5.26bn).

The candidates come from all around the world, including 39 from the Americas, 31 from Europe, 16 from Asia, seven from Africa, and seven from Oceania.

In a statement this morning, Mars One said the following selection rounds will focus on composing teams that can endure all the hardships of a permanent settlement on Mars.

It said the candidates will receive their first shot at training in the copy of the Mars Outpost on Earth and will demonstrate their suitability to perform well in a team.