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Wisconsin Man Makes First Cut For Proposed Mars Colony

(CBS) -- More than 200,000 people applied to be astronauts on a one-way trip to Mars, and now the Netherlands-based group Mars One has cut the list down to just over 1,000.

WBBM's Steve Miller talked to a Waukesha, Wisc., man who made the cut.

"Maybe it's something that's not inside the heart of every person, but I can tell you that it's inside mine: That desire that drive to experience something novel," says 29-year-old Aaron Hamm.

Wisconsin Man Makes First Cut For Proposed Mars Colony

"What really could be more novel than beginning the process of colonizing another planet?" he added.

Hamm hopes to be aboard the first four-person mission of Mars One. Target launch date for the one-way trip is the year 2025. Hamm says the trip would take seven months.

"I'm fully prepared to give up 50-plus years of family, friends and comfort on Earth for the opportunity to see even the briefest glimpse of a Martian sunrise," Hamm told the Mars One organization in his application video.

Hamm, who studied physics and math in college, is chief engineer at a hotel, doing maintenance work.

"It's not the most glamorous of positions, but knowing you can fix anything is going to be really useful when you can't really get parts," he says.

He is single. His parents are happy for him -- sort of.

"My mom told me that she doesn't want me to go and my dad asked me to wait to go until he has died," Hamm says.

He expects to find out in a few days what the next step is in his quest for Mars.

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