A Vietnamese scientist has been selected to join the Mars One program, one of only a hundred potential astronauts competing for four positions on the spaceship that will take them to Mars in 2023.
Vu Xuan Linh, 33, from northern Thai Binh Province, graduated from the Hanoi University of Technology and has an MA in information technology from Columbia University. He works in the IT sector in Vietnam.
Vietnam scientist, Vu Xuan Linh, reaches top 100 for Mars mission
Linh was competing against 200,000 other aspirants from 107 countries.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) or the US opened its selection process to the best and brightest applicants from around the world, rather than closing the mission to only US citizens.
Linh had to undergo two rigorous mental and physical rounds of selection to reach the third stage.
He will be competing against men and women -- 39 from the US, 31 from Europe, 16 from Asia, seven from Africa and seven from Australia and New Zealand -- 24 will be selected to continue into the fourth round of intensive training, which will last eight years.
Vu Xuan Linh joins Mars program
“In the last round, contestants will need to learn to live in isolation, underground or in Antarctica, or a desert. The best four, two men and two women, will then be selected to live on Mars," Linh said.
The Mars mission will be one-way. Researchers believe they can create a sustainable environment for the astronauts, but their ship will not have enough fuel to return. They will be able to communicate with Earth. Linh's parents were surprised by his ambition. His wife had no comment.