Pakistani shortlisted for mankind's first one-way trip to Mars

Sixty-year-old Reginald Foulds is among those chosen for a one-way trip to Mars

A Pakistani is among the 1,000 shortlisted for a trip to Mars from 200,000 hopefuls — who have been chosen to train for a one-way trip to Mars.

Sixty-year-old Reginald Foulds is among the 1,000 shortlisted from a pool of 200,000 people who applied for the one-way trip before the year started.

Foulds served as a helicopter pilot in the Pakistan Air Force before retiring in 1992 and moved to Canada with his wife at the age of 42, according to the Business Insider.

“I, like the Mars-One team, have a vision to leave a legacy for this world to remember for thousands of years to come. I am determined to do something literally out of this world and be one of the first human for the dawn of a new era – human life on Mars,” he said on his website.

“With my 22 years of military background as an infantry officer and a helicopter pilot, I am capable of surviving in any conditions. I have been trained to stand against any odds and in any conditions. I have learnt to be adaptable, determined, curious and courageous; I am very focused in what I get out to do. I am a very reliable and a trustworthy person,” he added.

Foulds further stated he has the curiousity to explore and has no fears.

“I have a will to go beyond the skies to seek and discover. To me there is no such word as impossible or I can’t,” he said.

The Mars One mission plans to launch the first humans to Mars starting in 2024.

The father of two said, “Both my children are very supportive to my endeavours towards the mission to Mars.”

Foulds currently works for the government as an Emergency Operations Officer, responsible for responding to any disaster on a bigger scale that may hit the province.

Earlier, a new study humans would likely begin dying within 68 days on their trip to Mars.

Oxygen levels would start to deplete after about two months and scientists said new technologies are required before humans can permanently settle on Mars, according to the study by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

The shortlist applicants will be whittled down to 24 for the mission -- an irreversible move to Mars, which is to be partially funded by a reality television show about the Endeavour.