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TOOELE — A Tooele County man is one of the finalists in competition to become the first colonists on Mars.
He's prepared to leave his loved ones on Earth and never come back for a chance to become a part of space history.
Just outside Grantsville, Utah, is a place Cody Reeder calls home: "This is where I've lived since I was 6 years old," he said.
He doesn't really have any neighbors. Under the wide-open sky, he developed a love for space.
"Most people, when they come out here, they're like, 'Whoa, what's that big thing in the sky?' And I'm like, 'That's the Milky Way,'" he said.
Now he's hoping to leave it all for something much more isolated.
He's 1 of 100 finalists being considered by Mars One, a privately funded mission to the red planet, that has the backing of several major aerospace companies, like Lockheed Martin, and SpaceX.
Reeder says, in a sense, his lifestyle has prepared him for life on Mars. He's already living off the grid.
Eventually, 24 will be selected to make up six crews of four, which Mars One says they hope to launch to the Red Planet every two years from 2024, with the aim of starting a colony there.
The Dutch non-profit hopes to use existing technology to carry out the mission. However, the planet has always been a difficult target for exploration, with only around half of all unmanned missions succeeding. The journey itself is expected to take around seven months, and a recent MIT study found that, should the first explorers succeed in landing, using current technology they would likely survive just 68 days.
So what kind of person chooses to go to Mars on a one-way mission? The list of 100 finalists includes scientists and academics as well as those who are just seeking the ultimate adventure.
"We make all our own power, get all our own water, grow a little bit of our own food," he explained.
At his family's remote ranch, this geology major at Utah State University is constantly doing experiments. He has posted hundreds of them to YouTube. His curiosity and ability to improvise are both things that he believes may help him survive in space.
"I guess now is a point where it really starts to feel real," he said. "It's like I might actually be going now."
But he said the selection process ahead will become much more intense.
"They're going to be putting us through rigorous testing, and simulated Mars missions and stuff," he said.
But Reeder said it will all be worth it, even though it would mean relocating to Mars for the rest of his life. He said there are people he would miss.
"Of course I will. You're far away from people, my girlfriend, my parents, my bees. Hopefully I can take those with me," he said.
But looking at the bigger picture, Reeder said it's doing something that's never been done before and fulfilling a lifelong dream: "Oh, yeah, I've always wanted to go to space," he said.
Mars One plans to send four people to the red planet in 2023, and send four more every two years. It hopes to eventually produce a reality show to select the final astronauts and help raise funds for the project in the coming years.
