Exposed as a scam in early 2015, the Mars One project that plans to send the winners of its reality show on a one-way trip to Mars will conduct unspecified tests on the "finalists" in its potentially dangerous project to establish the first human colony on Mars in 2026.

Mars One said the 100 candidates on its shortlist to found a human colony on Mars will undergo "tests" as part of a new phase in the selection process. The company is based in The Netherlands and was founded by a 39 year-old engineer named Bas Lansdorp in 2011.

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The 100 finalists are the survivors of a pool of applicants alleged by the company to have reached 200,000 persons from 140 countries. The tests will allegedly last five-days after which the number of finalists will be reduced to 40. Of this total, 24 will eventually be chosen for the one-way trips to Mars intended to start in 2026.

Mars One said this will be the first time all candidates will meet in person and demonstrate their capabilities as a team. The candidates are expected to group themselves into teams with the people they believe they can work well with.

Scientists and astronomers have long labeled the unbelievable plan by Mars One to colonize Mars by 2026 using its own meager resources as delusional, laughable, dangerous and a scam.

One of the persons chosen in February 2015 to be among the 100 finalists with a chance to become the first humans on Mars described the Mars One project as pretty much a scam, said TechSpot.

Dr. Joseph Roche, a professor at Trinity College's School of Education in Dublin and Ph.D in physics and astrophysics, was aghast at the entire process that led to the selection of the 100 finalists.

Dr. Roche was surprised the selection process for seeking six ideal human specimens to survive in the deadly environment of Mars seemed awfully lax. He said what was initially going to be an interview and testing process lasting several days was reduced to 10 minute Skype call.

Dr. Roche said his short Skype conversation with Mars One's chief medical officer, Norbert Kraft, revolved about trivial matters. No rigorous psychological or psychometric testing that would have been absolutely vital to the astronauts was part of the appraisal.

More surprising to Dr. Roche was that he hadn't met anyone from Mars One in person.

He refuted Mars One's claims it received applications from over 200,000 interested individuals. He said the real number was only 2,761.

He also said Mars One asked the finalists to donate any money they make from guest appearances to the project. To him, it seemed odd that a project costing billions of dollars in funding would request money from its finalists.

What has left scientists incredulous was Mars One plan to fund the US$6 billion venture by producing a reality TV show with production company Endemol, the producer of The Big Brother reality TV show. Endemol, however, pulled out of the project a week after Mars One announced its 100 finalists.

The Mars One mission has been widely criticized since it was first announced in 2011, with some experts saying it was never more than a pipe dream.

Mars One is looking to send 40 pioneers on a one-way trip 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. Ph.D student from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in late 2014 published a study that debunked Mars One's plan to land humans on Mars by 2026 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.

Mars One doesn't own or has developed any of its own space travel technology. It also has no existing contracts with companies that can make it happen such as SpaceX. One news report said the office where Bas Lansdorp, Mars One CEO, and his few colleagues work is just a bunch of tables. 

TagsMars One, Mars, Bas Lansdorp, Dr. Joseph Roche, Massachusetts Institute of Technology