AN astrophysicist vying to become the first Irishman in space has had his hopes dashed after being kicked off the Mars One mission.
Trinity College-based Dr Joseph Roche, who had made the final 100 shortlist for the one-way mission, lost his place after criticising the programme in an interview with a blogger for the Medium news site this week.
A spokesperson for the mission told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland programme that Roche will no longer be in the running because the interview had breached a confidentiality agreement.
Roche had called the mission “hopelessly flawed”, questioning the interview process for applicants, the programme’s lack of money and TV contracts for a reality show and the way it has been superficially portrayed to the public.
In the interview he also claimed that candidates were ranked in order of the amount of funding they had each raised for the mission.
He added that he had not yet met anyone involved in the programme in person, with the only communication with organisers being a ten-minute conversation over Skype.
Roche further revealed that if candidates were paid for media interviews they were required to pay 75 per cent of the profits to Mars One.
Over 200,000 people have applied to take part in the one-way trip to the red planet.
The purpose of Mars One is to create a permanent human settlement on the planet, sending 24 people into space by 2025. Crews of four are expected to depart every two years from when the mission begins in just under ten years.
The total cost is set to be around $6bn (€5.26bn) and the project is backed by Dutch entrepreneur Bas Lansdorp.
See More: Dr Joseph Roche, Mars One
