Sue Ann Pien is a tech industry employee, and the only American of the 100 finalists for the non-profit Mars One mission that aims to create a Mars colony by 2027.
On her Mars One Community Platform page, Pien describes herself as “incredibly idealistic yet courageously passionate” and states that she has “always believed space is the next frontier for humankind and was born with my eyes fixed into the galaxies”.
Pien, as journalists have pointed out, is willing to die on Mars – if the mission is successful, she won’t come back to Earth. Naturally, her live-in girlfriend was upset when she heard that Pien intended to be a red planet colonist.
WHY SHE WANTS TO GO THERE
Pien, who is from Los Angeles, cites concerns about the sustainability of Earth life and a proclivity to adventure as motivating factors in the huge personal decision to go to Mars. Some space exploration advocates, like Elon Musk, consider Mars colonization to be a response to climate change.
“Hundreds of years down the road we have to be a space-faring civilization,” Pien said. “Mars One gives us the opportunity to do that.”
WILL SHE BE A MARS COLONIST FOR MARS ONE?
Whether or not she actually goes to Mars depends on the outcome of a series of lengthy interviews, teamwork tests and isolation-chamber living that will all take place next year, according to The New York Post. The 24 best performing candidates on these tests will then undergo ten years of training, after which the first four-person mission of Mars One will take place.
The odds, of course, are against her going to Mars: more than three quarters of the hundred remaining finalists will be rejected. And even then, there are some doubts about the scientific and technical components of the Mars One plan.
But Pien thinks otherwise. “I’m nearly 100 percent certain that I’ll get to space in my lifetime and about 70 percent certain that I’ll get to be on Mars,” the candidate said.
CITIZEN MARS
Along with four other potential Mars colonists, Pien is profiled in the Citizen Mars series made by AOL’s Engadget. You can check out the first episode of the five-part series here.
