Mission Mars - Forwarding Our Dreams into Reality

• Bas Lansdorp is a born entrepreneur with a passion for ambitious projects. He is co-founder and CEO of Mars One, the dutch foundation that aims to land the first humans on Mars in 2025.

Lansdorp received his masters of science degree in mechanical engineering from Twente University in 2003. At Delft University of Technology he worked for five years on his PhD research in wind energy. He abandoned his research to start his first company, Ampyx Power. Ampyx Power develops a novel, cheaper than coal, method of wind energy generation.

Lansdorp sold part of his shares in Ampyx Power to finance the start of Mars One. Now, only three years later, Mars One is one of the established names in the world of space exploration. Mars One aims to send its first unmanned demonstration mission to Mars in 2018 and recently announced a contract with aerospace titan Lockheed Martin for this mission.

One of the reasons for the success of Mars One is Lansdorp's enthusiasm, which he transfers to any audience in a contagious way.