Amersfoort, 3rd March 2014 - The Mars One project and Uwingu are excited to announce a landmark partnership. Mars One will utilize the soon-to-be-developed Uwingu Mars Map in all its missions and will land that map on Mars on its first unmanned Mars lander.

Uwingu launched its Mars Crater Naming Project last week giving the public the opportunity to name approximately 500,000 scientifically identified craters on Mars by the end of 2014. The goal of the project is to engage the audience in Mars exploration and to generate a new funding stream for private space related projects in the field of space exploration, space research, or space education. The audience can participate in Mars exploration through Uwingu by naming Mars craters, resulting in a Mars Map. Mars One’s human mission to Mars is one of the projects already supported by Uwingu.

Bas Lansdorp, Mars One Co-Founder and CEO said: “We’re very enthusiastic about the partnership with Uwingu. Like Mars One, Uwingu gives everyone around the world the opportunity to participate in Mars exploration. The name you choose will go down in history, traveling to Mars on board our 2018 lander and will be used by our future astronauts. What an amazing opportunity!”

Everyone around the world can help name craters on Mars through Uwingu’s website (www.uwingu.com). Mars One will carry a digital copy of the resulting Mars Map on board its 2018 unmanned Mars Lander and will use the Uwingu crater names as part of Mars One mission operations.

Uwingu founder and CEO Dr. Alan Stern, a planetary scientist and the former head of NASA’s science program, said about the Mars One - Uwingu partnership, “This partnership catapults Uwingu’s Mars crater naming database and Mars maps into the forefront of private Mars exploration! Every person who names craters on Mars at www.uwingu.com will now know that their crater names are planned to be used in the exploration and hoped for settlement of Mars. At Uwingu, we are very excited about actually flying our map to Mars in 2018.”

About Mars One

Mars One is a not-for-profit foundation that will establish permanent human life on Mars. Human settlement on Mars is possible today with existing technologies. Mars One’s mission plan integrates components that are well tested and readily available from industry leaders worldwide. The first footprint on Mars and lives of the crew thereon will captivate and inspire generations. It is this public interest that will help finance this human mission to Mars.

About Uwingu

Uwingu is a small company, consisting of prominent astronomers, planetary scientists, former space program executives, and educators. Uwingu's mission is to create new ways for people to personally connect with space exploration and astronomy. Uwingu launched a series of projects that will earn revenue to generate a new, private sector funding stream for space projects of all kinds, which they call The Uwingu Fund. The Uwingu Fund will provide grants to those that propose meritorious projects to us in space exploration, space research, or space education.

More information about Uwingu can be found at: www.uwingu.com