"Round two will see regional reviewers selecting 50 to 100 candidates from each of the 300 geographic regions identified by Mars One. At this point, applicants will be required to pay an administration fee. "
I just made an account on the mars one website and it seems they want you to pay a $33 USD admin fee before you can do anything at all with the account.
This seems more and more like a scam to me.

That's 78,000 dumb stupid people. With the technology available today they won't get there alive. A waste of time, it'll happen in the future but not the near future. I'm 56 and it won't happen in my lifetime.

Basically, there are 78,000 people who are prepared to pay for the privilege of committing suicide, either on the way to Mars, if anything goes wrong, or when their oxygen or food runs out at their base camp.
These are desperate people (this reminds me of young men joining the American military, but at least there is a chance that they might make it back home)

Wow - some early morning Negative Nancies here. The first pioneers faced terrible odds and many hardships, but we'd never advance without people willing to take that uncertain but exciting step forward.
As to the application fee - per person it's not much money (for the employed), and these folks will need more funds than they probably currently have - I'm supposing here of course - and this is one way to get it. I think you two first posters need to try to think in more positive ways. You clearly are NOT cut out to engage in this type of activity, so don't worry and complain so much. Even if it's a bad deal or a scan, it's not going to affect you.
Meanwhile, the rest of us who don't get to go will continue to follow this story with great interest.

I think its a great idea but not enough. Why just four people? To those who say we dont have the tech to survive on Mars are wrong. We have more than enough tech to go and live there, its just going to take planning, and making sure there are multiple options for food, water, atmosphere etc, that can be found or made on Mars. Build enough systems to cover the means to live, and have back up systems, and ways to create or fix systems around so people there can use them, its not that hard. Its not like a camping trip where you pack what you think you will need and dont plan. Plan like you are going to stay there, and without outside assistance.

I wish Gizmag would stop reporting on this scam. It's unrealistic and the plan was stolen word for word from a book written in 2010. This is a scam at it's finest - Make outrageous promises, ask for money to participate, with no actual item of value in exchange, and when the scheme starts to crumble, say "Oops sorry, we couldn't follow though." You can say "Sayoonara" to the $2.5 million they've already made from, literally, a website with some pictures on it.

It sounds like the people that look down on this project are not familiar with the current technology status of space systems. We have the technology (granted, not the integrated systems) TODAY to go to Mars. We had better propulsion systems back in the early 70s (NERVA). So don't any of you dare speak of something in which you hold no merit and cannot add value. It's because of negative Nancy boys (rather a lack of leadership and a spine in congress really) such as yourselves that we are stuck in this quandary of space exploration. Please keep your negative comments to yourself. Although, I do call into question the final price for one mission, at 6B, it's far more likely to cost 2 to 3 times as much, but it's still possible.

I can't help but wonder how many people would actually load up and then how many would get cold feet before they were even a week out.
78,000 x $33= $2,574,000
Do the Math....

Griffin, $2,574,000 is a drop in the bucket to final costs on an endeavor such as this. DOSb00t, couldn't agree with you more I find it quite intriguing myself and there's way too much negativity. As for getting people to fully commit, people blow themselves up for a religious war, without a doubt someone will go to Mars for exploration.

Just to clarify, i am fully aware of our current technology and our capacity to make a colony on mars but i am being realistic, how is this company going to get the literally billions of dollars when they do not have a sound business plan?
And to get every one to pay a $33 fee before they can do anything at all makes me think they are just out to make a quick buck. I am a massive sci fi fan who really wish's this thing was real but there are way to many black holes in this companies planning for me to think so.