Mars One, a Dutch company that planned to send humans on a one-way trip to Mars and start the first human colony on the Red Planet, has been declared bankrupt.

The declaration was made in a Swiss court on Jan. 15 — and posted on Reddit this past weekend — officially dissolving Mars One Ventures AG.

"We are currently working with the administrator and an investor to find a solution moving forward, though at this moment that is all we can share," the company said in an email.

The bankruptcy affects the company's commercial arm, Mars One Ventures AG, but does not affect the non-profit Mars One Foundation, the email said.

A press release notes the company is "currently working on a solution with an investor."

Mars One began accepting applications in 2013 for a mission to establish a permanent settlement on Mars. It planned to launch a total of 24 people in groups of four every two years starting in 2024. The company claimed it could do so using existing technology.

It estimated launching the first four people would cost $6 billion US, and said it planned to raise the money through broadcasting rights and sponsorships.

More than 200,000 people from 100 countries applied, including more than 8,000 Canadians.

The company announced a shortlist of 100 people in 2015, including six Canadians.

However, experts questioned the plan and pointed out that it had some potentially deadly flaws, and some critics openly questioned whether it was a scam.

"The fact is the money is not there, the technology is not there," Elmo Keep, a journalist who has been investigating the company, told CBC Radio's q this past November.</s>Mars and the moon will make a dynamic duo in the sky tonight, and NASA has some great tips on how to spot this celestial sight.

“On [Feb.] 10, the crescent moon pairs up with Mars,” NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) officials said in a video guide. “Look for them in the west about an hour after sunset.”

If weather conditions are good, Mars will appear roughly six degrees below and to the right of the crescent moon. You’ll be able to spot Mars next to the crescent moon at approximately 8 p.m. EST, Space.com noted. If you close your fist and hold it out about an arm’s length, you’ll cover roughly 10 degrees of the night sky, which makes it easier to see Mars, the moon, and other solar system bodies.

This won’t be the only time you can spot the Red Planet: In the video, JPL officials noted that there will be other opportunities to see Mars throughout the month. On Feb. 14, asteroid Bennu will be located to the right of Mars, which will be a cool sight. Plus, you can look west after sunset all month long to see Mars in the night sky.

For more tips on how see Mars and other interstellar activities, see NASA’s February 2019 Skywatching Tips Video.
• NASA’s Curiosity Rover Snaps a Selfie Before Its Next Mars Journey</s>According to visionary billionaire Elon Musk, tickets for a trip to Mars could eventually come in below $100,000 (£77k).

In the future, you’ll be able to sell your house for a flight to the red planet with a few bob left over to splash out on a snazzy spacesuit.

And don’t worry about affording the return trip because, according to Elon, it’ll be free.

Musk’s company SpaceX is aggressively pursuing the goal of putting humans on Mars.

It has developed the Starship rocket that will form the basis of missions to our neighbouring planet. The plan is to ship out parts to the planet that are then assembled into some kind of a habitat by robots – ready for the first human settlers to arrive there.

Last year Musk shared an artist’s impression of the SpaceX Mars Base Alpha on Twitter. In a response to a question about when it might be constructed, Musk tweeted: ‘Probably 2028 for a base to be built.’

In the early years, human civilisation on Mars would be a pretty basic existence. Musk told a crowd at SXSW that pioneers would have ‘just a base to create propellant, a power station, blast domes in which to grow crops, all the sort of fundamentals without which you could not survive.’</s>Bruno Mars could be part of your Valentine’s Day cheer this year.
Mars One, a private Dutch organization that had claimed it would send humans on a one-way trip to Mars starting in 2024, releases a statement saying it has been declared bankrupt.