The application process to take part in a reality-style show and become one of the first people to land and live on Mars and never return home to Earth is drawing to a close.
More than 165,000 'wannabe astronauts' have applied for four initial places to colonize the red planet despite it only being a one-way ticket.
Melissa Ede, 52, a transsexual taxi-driver from Hull, is one of 7,000 applicants from the UK hoping to be picked.
She said: "The attraction's got to be going down in history, being remembered.
"Ever since a little child I've wanted to do something where I was going to make my mark on this Earth, this is the way of doing it.
"My parents always used to put me down. They always said I'm on cloud cuckoo-land and I live on a different planet. Well I could say actually, I do.
"On Earth I feel I've done enough now, I've completed all my challenges that I had in life. I'll be able to wave down at everybody."
As well as the UK, applicants from China, Brazil, India and Russia have paid on average £17 to cover the administration costs of the selection process for the Mars One project - the brainchild of Big Brother co-creator Paul R?.
The applications close today.
By 2015, the astronauts selected for the trip will start their training, using a simulation of conditions on the planet where they'll learn to repair their equipment, grow food and deal with long periods of isolation.
The team's home on Mars will be operational by 2021. Their living pods will provide them with oxygen, water and electricity.
The first crew will set off for Mars a year later on a journey that will take between seven to eight months.
