Mars One, a non-profit organisation headed by Dutch entrepreneurs Bas Lansdorp and Arno Wielders, aims to have humans living on planet Mars by 2025.

The space mission is estimated to cost around $6 billion. They will send four individuals on a one-way trip to the red planet in 10 years' time. Then, they will send four more people every two years to build the first permanent human colony on Mars. It is estimated that the cost for every manned mission following the first successful travel will cost $4 billion.

The space mission called out for volunteers. The search began in April and ended in August 2013. More than 200,000 people from all over the world submitted their video applications online. The founders carved down the list of aspiring astronauts to 1,058 and 75 Canadians are among them.

Now, you would ask why anyone would want to be on a months-long journey through space and live on the red planet. Why would anyone want to leave our planet Earth and trade it for life on Mars that you are not even sure to survive on?

Julie Perrault, a 31-year-old woman from Manitoba, is more than willing to surrender her life on Earth. CBC.ca reported that Perrault was one of the 75 Canadians who were shortlisted for the one-way trip to Mars.

"I like to challenge myself and not let fear stop me from doing what I want to do," Ms Perrault said.

In the video application Ms Perrault sent to the organisers, she said that the main reason why she would like to be part of the Mars One space project is because of the challenge and adventure. "I'm a caver and one of the reasons for that is that often you are in a place where only a few people have been in, sometimes you are the first person in that place and that type of exploration isn't something you can get here, I mean aside from caving," she said. "Mars would be an ultimate exploration, right," she added.

Certainly, Mars exploration would be an exciting journey. She will have to essentially fight to survive in Mars. However, the planet Mars, as fascinating as it is, is an uncongenial landscape.

Perrault said that she may not have the technical skills when it comes to space stuff, but her passion for learning new things will help her survive the mission until the end. Perrault said that she might even have an advantage over other aspiring Mars occupants.

"I might have an advantage over people who are used to a warmer climate, but I've also heard that it gets way colder on Mars," Perrault said.

Mars One will launch its first unmanned mission to Mars in 2018.