Mars One- the First Human Space Colony!??

So you guys remember all those Sci-Fi movies, where we get a glance to the distant future...
And, what we see is that Earth is rendered uninhabitable, and the human race has to form colonies on distant planets for survival? Well we're pretty much on the way to that idea becoming the truth... And NO, I don't mean that the Earth is now uninhabitable. We all know that it's not true, for we are all still in front of our computers or phones and tablets browsing through a wonderful space-age thing called the 'Internet'....

What I do mean is that the human-colonies-on-distant-planets part of it might be coming true. With that I think it's time to share that a Dutch company that plans to send a crew of amateur astronauts to a one-way mission to Mars has lined up two major companies to work on a robotic mission to the Red planet. Slated for launch in 2018, the Mars One mission aims to pave the way for the volunteer crew by testing technology they will need should they reach Mars in good enough shape to start the very first human space colony.

Mars as seen by Hubble Telescope

The surface of Mars

The US aerospace company, Lockheed Martin, which has worked on scores of NASA missions, has agreed to draw up plans for a lander based on the US space agency's Phoenix probe that touched down on Mars in 2008.

The lander will launch with a communications satellite that will go into orbit over Mars and provide video and data links from the surface of the planet back to Earth. The UK company, Surrey Satellites (SSTL), has signed a contract to work on the communications probe.

If the launch goes ahead as planned, it will mark the first privately funded mission to explore another planet.

Bas Lansdorp, CEO of Mars One, told reporters at a press briefing in Washington DC on Tuesday that the robotic mission was "the first step in Mars One's overall plan of establishing a permanent human settlement on Mars".

Should the first human mission go ahead, Mars One hopes to send further crews every two years. None will expect to come home, but instead would remain on the planet as the first extraterrestrial colony. Lansdorp said the company had received more than 200,000 applications from people who wanted to be among the first to fly to Mars. Each application costs as much as $75. Those who go through to the next round of assessments will hear by the end of the year, he said.

"We're moving closer to our destination. It's going to be a difficult and bumpy road, but I'm confident with a lot of help from people around the world we will finally make it," said Lansdorp.

Maybe those Sci-Fi movies are not so distant things now, eh? Well, see you next time guys, Cheers.

P.S.- The images are in no way connected to the official plans or anything, they are just there to add to the feel of the post. Also, nothing stated is final.