Wanted: Married couple for maiden voyage to Mars in 2018

Second honeymoon on Mars! A married couple is being sought to represent humanity on the first manned mission to Mars to be launched in 2018.

US millionaire tycoon Dennis Tito, who in 2001 became the first space tourist, has launched an ambitious project to send two civilians on a historic 501 days return journey to the Red Planet in January 2018.

Tito has unveiled the plan to launch the first manned mission to Mars in 2018, a voyage that could include an adventurous married crew, 'SPACE.com' reported.

Tito announced the private Mars voyage plan here yesterday. The project aims not to land people on the surface of the Red Planet, but to take advantage of a rare planetary alignment that would allow a relatively easy, quick flyby around the Mars.

Tito hopes to choose a space capsule and rocket from among those already on the market, and modify them to carry two people to Mars and back in 501 days.

And to combat the loneliness and isolation that would doubtless set in during such a mission, Tito is proposing something that has never been tried before: sending one male and one female, preferably a married couple.

"When you're out that far and the Earth is a tiny, blue pinpoint, you're going to need someone you can hug," Tito said.

"What better solution to the psychological problems you're going to encounter with that isolation?" The mission is designed to capitalise on a launch opportunity that opens in January 2018.

"There are rare opportunities to actually go out to Mars and come back in a relatively short time, about 1.4 years, or 500 or so days," Tito said.

"If one misses those opportunities, then typical flight times would be two to three years," he said.

Though Tito admits the plan faces numerous challenges, he says it's doable.

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