Not for profit Dutch firm Mars One intends to land four of its colonists (two women, two men) on Mars by 2025, a full decade before NASA plans to do so. Mars One then plans to send groups of four every two years to expand its colony on the Red Planet.

Doing so will give Mars One bragging rights as being the first organization to land humans on Mars and establish a permanent colony there. And, by the way, the four Mars One astronauts will be the stars of a reality TV show that will broadcast everything they do on Mars to folks back on Earth.

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In the Mars One concept, all its astronauts that land on Mars will stay there until they die. Their missions are effectively one-way trips.

Mars One is looking to send 40 pioneers on this one-way ticket to Mars. These pioneers are expected to grow their food and produce their own energy using resources from the Martian environment.

It's a mission concept that's aroused incredulity and even derision from the scientific community. PhD student from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in late 2014 published a study that debunks Mars One's plan to land humans on Mars by 2025 using existing technology.

They said without dramatic improvements in equipment life, the colonists could starve to death on Mars. In effect, Mars would turn into one massive graveyard for the Mars One pioneers.

Despite the apocalyptic nature of its mission model, Mars One received more than 202,000 applicants. This week, Mars One announced it had whittled down that number to 100. The first four contestant-colonists will be taken from this number.

Of the 100 remaining contestants, 39 live in the U.S. Of those left, 31 come from Europe; 16 from Asia, seven from Africa and seven from Oceania.

The youngest contestants are Shradha Prasad frm India and Teah Louise Calvert of Australia. Both just 19 but will be in their 30s when they journey to Mars, that is, if they win. The oldest contestant is 60 year-old Reginald George Foulds of Canada

Norbert Kraft, Mars One's chief medical officer, said the winners will have to endure 10 years of training and a seven-month flight to Mars. Mars One's first trip to Mars is expected to cost $6 billion, hence the need for revenues from its reality TV show and worldwide merchandising.

Kraft said the entire process, from selecting and training the astronauts, to launching them and landing them on Mars, will be broadcast on a reality TV program. The astronauts will be on TV from eight and 12 hours a day.

The trek to Mars would take the astronauts anywhere from 39 days to 289 days, depending on the orbital position of Earth and Mars. The first Mars One trip will take 10 months.