This book dissects the hype and hubris of the Mars One venture. Every aspect of the mission design is scrutinized, from the haphazard selection process to the unproven mission architecture. A controversial project, many professional astronauts consider Mars One a reckless attempt, yet it gained popular attention.

Dr. Erik Seedhouse is a research scientist specializing in environmental life sciences and physiology, the subject in which he obtained his Ph.D. while working for the European Space Agency between 1996 and 1998. In 2009, he was one of the final candidates for selection as an astronaut in the CSA's Astronaut Recruitment Campaign. He is a certified commercial suborbital astronaut and is the Canadian Payload Broker for XCOR via Arête. Between 2008-13 he was Director of Canada's Manned Centrifuge and Hypobaric Chamber Operations. He is a spaceflight instructor for the American Astronautics Institute and the Training Director for Astronauts for Hire. He works as manned spaceflight consultant, triathlon coach, author and public speaker. He is currently co-authoring a book with Franklin Chang-Diaz on the subject of VASIMR. He applied to the Mars One venture in the spirit of 'nothing ventured, nothing gained'. He was not among the final 100 finalists, which is probably a good thing knowingwhat we know now!