Mars One, the Dutch mission to establish a permanent human settlement on the Red Planet, got one step closer this week by whittling down its pool of candidates to 50 men and 50 women. Among them is 36-year-old Oakland resident Kenya Armbrister. She's one of only 19 American women to make the cut, and she’s optimistic she'll advance to the final 24.
Beginning in 2024, Mars One will launch six one-way flights, each lasting seven months and each carrying four passengers. (Shuttles will launch every two years, when Mars is closest). Although this sounds like a journey for eccentrics with a death wish, Kenya Armbrister is a grounded, idealistic woman with no delusions about the sacrifices involved. She's also pragmatic about the mission's perceived danger. As she told KPIX, "It's suicidal getting on the Bay Bridge every morning...they're some crazy drivers in the Bay Area."
While she's as afraid as you’d expect, she’s also excited. When I asked what she daydreams about, she said, “To build our own home out of Martian soil, to grow our own greenhouses and plant the first seed on Mars. I want to do everything!”
Armbrister holds two Master’s degrees and has worked for human rights NGOs all over the world, but that barely prepares her for what she'll need to survive on Mars — namely, an immersive eight-year training program in the hard sciences, along with practical know-how (how to fix a toilet, how to do a root canal), and intense psychological screening. Since the project is partly funded through commercial sources, it means she'll also have to become a reality TV star. Is she ready?
“No, not at all,” she said. “I don’t even own a TV. When Mars One mentioned they were linking up with the people who do Big Brother, I watched Big Brother because I had no clue what it was. I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I don’t want to end up like these guys, but this is a cool show to watch.’”
With all the curiosity surrounding the mission's logistics, not much thought has been given to what might happen if it actually succeeds. Could a thriving Martian society evade the social ills plaguing Earth? “I hope it looks a lot different than what it looks like on Earth," Armbrister said. "I want to be able to create a new society where racism isn’t an issue, equality isn’t an issue, your sex, your sexual preference. I hope none of that matters on Mars."
It sounds very much like Bay Area liberalism exported to another world. It’s also a bit Star Trek-y, which isn't a coincidence. “I watched Star Trek my whole childhood with my dad," Armbrister told me. "Uhura was one of my heroes. Like, ‘Look at this chick on Star Trek. It’s amazing!’ Mae Jemison [the first female African-American astronaut] was one of my heroes as well."
So, what if she gets to ride aboard the first ship (whose passengers will be chosen by a TV audience)? Does she already have her speech ready for history? “I haven’t thought about that,” Armbrister said, “but I know when we do touch down on Mars I’m going to be truly grateful that we made it there in one piece. I want to be able to walk out of our spacecraft together on the planet Mars, because we’re going to be in it together for the rest of our lives.”
She plans to pack light: a USB stick holding all her music and photos of life on Earth, and not much else. When I posed the desert island question about her one album, she chose Echo and the Bunnymen’s Ocean Rain (the one with“The Killing Moon”). So at least we’re sending people with impeccable taste to greet the proverbial Little Green Men.
As for what she’d miss most, Armbrister named the things any Californian would have trouble parting with: the Pacific Ocean, hanging out in Dolores Park on weekends, and Japanese food. “I’m going to miss everything,” she said, "but I feel like these things are worth giving up to expand the human race on another planet.”
[h/t KPIX; top image courtesy of ThinkStock]
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