A man living in Drumheller is one step closer to going where no man has gone before.
Graham Christensen, 29, is spending his summer working at the Dinosaur Trail RV Resort. He is a finalist in the Mars One project. This is a project to colonize Mars and he underwent an international selection process to pick a group of dedicated individuals to take a one-way ticket to Mars to set up a colony. Mars One announced its list of finalists, and out of more than 200,000 entries, Christensen was one of 705 selected.
For Christensen, he has always been fascinated by exploration and space.
“I don’t remember this, but my mom tells this story that when I was four years old she was reading nursery rhymes, I told her ‘I don’t want to hear nursery rhymes, I want you to read to me about planets,’” he chuckles.
Christensen grew up in Vegreville, but his passion for exploration was fostered by the Drumheller Valley.
“When I was five I came with my parents and found my first dinosaur bone bed, and we have basically been here every year since,” he said.
Christensen does have some electrical engineering training but he feels his natural interest in science and his ability to learn independently are some of his strengths. He said the Mars One project isn’t about finding the most educated, but the best fit to make a colony.
“They opened this up to everyone, all nationalities and education levels. They knew there was many people who didn’t have the money or opportunity to get an education but they could be really intelligent people,” said Christensen. “So they are looking for people who have an aptitude for science and exploration, who may not have an education."
He also says an important component is the ability to understand and communicate during this project.
“I have strong science literacy as well as the ability to explain things to people,” he said.
“Most of the funding for Mars One is coming from the sale of broadcasting rights because they figure millions of people are going to want to watch people go to mars and settle it… they need to have people who are able to relate to the public and explain what we are discovering.”
Already he has been actively communicating about the project. Last week he did a presentation in Banff on his selection and also was a featured speaker at Nerd Nite in Calgary on May 8.
Christensen is committed to the project. Mars One has the goal, according to its website, to begin colonizing Mars in 2024. He is realistic in his expectation of being selected as a crew member.
He also understands that if selected it will take years of training and a large sacrifice. He has discussed the endeavour with his girlfriend and she is supportive.
“She is absolutely thrilled about it and knows she has me for about 10 years until the first launch. We have talked about it and it's going to be tough,” he said.
To get to this point he passed the first cut down to about 1,000 last December. Since then he had to submitt a medical statement of health and was also required to open his online profile to the public. He is one of the 705 finalists who are now selected to have a personal interview.
From there, the fields will be narrowed down to international teams of two women and two men. These teams will be going into full time training.
