Mars One welcomes University of Twente as its first Science and Education partner

4 April 2013

The Mars One Foundation, an organisation preparing to send the first human settlers to Mars, has joined forces with University of Twente, Netherlands in a partnership where researchers at the university will help tackle specific mission challenges.

AMERSFOORT, April 2013. Mars One is very happy to announce University of Twente as its first Science and Education partner.

Engaging young researchers in universities and colleges around the world is crucial for the success of the mission. By working closely with its Science and Education partners, Mars One will address a broad range of social and technical research questions.

Pool of fresh critical minds
The Mars One mission is designed around existing technology; however the team wishes to prepare a premise not only for the settlers’ journey and survival but also for an expanding, productive Martian community. Bas Lansdorp, founder of Mars One and alumnus of Twente said: “We hope that researchers from University of Twente will help develop techniques to ensure the settlers’ stay on the planet will be a success story.” “Future research is needed, for example to find ways for making the settlement less dependent on frequent resupply missions from Earth by making smart use of resources on Mars. This collaboration will engage a pool of fresh critical minds with such challenges,” he said.

Mars spin offs for better Earth

Pleased about the partnership, Professor Ed Brinksma, Rector Magnificus of the University said: “The Mars One mission shows a lot of courage and ambition, and the team clearly dares to think big. As an entrepreneurial university, their enterprising spirit appeals to us a great deal.” “We hope that from the complexity of an expedition to Mars new research projects will sprout as spinoffs in the fields of solar energy and recycling-- solutions for problems we now face on Earth,” he said.

Collaboration in education and research

Both partners see many starting points of collaboration in the future. To start with, experts from Mars One will contribute to one of the academic semesters at new ATLAS University College, to be launched on September 2013 within the University of Twente.

In addition to education there are plenty of potential research links. Professor Brinksma offers some examples: “Our Robotics and Mechatronics departments can contribute to the manned and unmanned robotic vehicles that the Mars pioneers will use. Our behavioural scientists can also help astronauts learn coping mechanisms and how to deal with uncertainty.”

“Mars One welcomes partnership from research institutes with a foresight. We want to work very actively with places of higher education around the world. We welcome University of Twente as our first Science and Education partner,” said Bas Lansdorp.

Contact person
Juliette Fhij, mobile +31 6 5793 9296