A one-way ticket to a barren, hostile landscape, where temperatures can drop as low as -150°C, might not sound like everyone’s dream destination.

But as of the application deadline a week ago, more than 200,000 people from 140 different countries have applied to be among the first colonists on Mars.

The applicants have agreed to stay on the red planet for the rest of their lives – and be filmed for a reality TV programme, said the company behind the mission, Mars One.

They added that landing systems will be tested eight times before they are used to transport humans – a move that Mars One said will make the trips ‘much safer than moon missions’.

From the 200,000 applications, between 24 and 40 candidates will be selected to participate in a seven-year training program that would start in 2015.

The group said it aims to have a human settlement on Mars within a decade.

But Dr Veronica Bray of the University of Arizona has expressed concerns about the project.