In an attempt to prepare for the first human colonists on Mars, the Mars One foundation has announced plans to send the first privately funded robotic mission to the red planet in 2018 to help prepare for a manned mission to the planet.

The Mars One foundation, which is a non-profit group, plans to send a robotic mission to Mars in 2018 before they launch a manned space trip to Mars in 2022. However, the manned mission is a one way trip, so astronauts must be very dedicated if they wish to go to the planet.

Lockheed Martin Space Systems and Surrey Satellite Technology have agreed to help fund the project, according to Space.com. Lockheed Martin will build the Mars One lander that will actually touch down on Mars, and Surrey Satellite Technology will build a satellite that with bridge communication from the red planet to Earth. Sir Martin Sweeting, executive chairman of Surrey Satellite Technology, had this to say about the future missions to the fourth planet in our solar system:

"This study gives us an unprecedented opportunity to take our tried and tested approach and apply it to Mars One's imaginative and exhilarating challenge of sending humans to Mars through private investment."

Of course, this is not the only space mission designed to bring humans to Mars being planned. However, the Mars One project is one of the missions with the soonest launch date, making it a front runner for being the first manned mission to Mars.

However, the Mars One mission does have some drawbacks that will make it unappealing to most. For one thing, the mission is one way, meaning that astronauts in the project will be unable to return to Earth. As CEO of Mars One Bas Lansdorp told CNN, a one way trip will reduce the cost of the Mars trip, and those who partake in the project will have to decide what to do when fellow teammates expire:

"It's likely that there will be a crematorium...It's up to the people on Mars to decide what to do with their dead."

Despite the morbid nature of the one way suicide mission to Mars, Mars One claims that 165,000 people applied to be on the mission. With increased funding from Lockheed and others it is very possible that the four people chosen to go to Mars could very well make it to the planet, and hopefully NASA and other space agencies develop a way to bring them home when other manned missions to the planet begin.