Former Canadian astronaut Julie Payette says one way mission to Mars going nowhere

Official ACES Suit Astronaut Portrait for Julie Payette (Wikipedia photo)

MONTREAL — Former Canadian astronaut Julie Payette says the controversial one-way mission to send people to live on Mars is going nowhere.

Dutch-based Mars One wants to establish a colony on the red planet by 2025 and six Canadians are among the 100 finalists still in the running.

But Payette says they are not going anywhere in 10 years because the technology needed to go to Mars doesn’t exist.

She says the only courage any of the thousands of potential candidates had was to sign up on the Mars One website.

Payette made her comments today during a speech that opened a three-day aerospace symposium at the Montreal headquarters of the International Civil Aviation Organization.

ICAO has teamed up with the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs to discuss space law-making and emerging commercial activities such as space tourism.