Katelyn "Kitty" Kane

Katelyn "Kitty" Kane is a space exploration proponent originally known for her application and viral campaign to colonize Mars through the Mars One Project.

Mars One Application

The Mars One Project is a non-profit organization that plans to colonize Mars by the year 2023. Announced in May 2012, the project asked for applicants that would want to spend the rest of their lives on Mars in the first ever colonization attempt. More than 100,000 people applied for the coveted four spots, with 30,000 Americans applying as of mid-August, 2013.

The applicants included then 23 year-old Katelyn "Kitty" Kane, who is a resident of Provo, Utah. Kane lised her interests for "a lifetime spent on Mars include juggling, science (I'm smart, creative, and teachable), and painting (more specifically, I want to paint the Martian landscape. Hey, it hasn't been done before.)" on the Mars One application. Kane is a hairdresser and states that "if I'm selected, everyone on the red planet will have great hair." Kane also believes "There's a lot of good you can do, going to space for humanity."

Kane was featured on the National Geographic website for being one of the "best video applica[nts]" of the 100,000 people that applied. She is quoted in The Daily Dot, featured in US Science News and covered in The Business Insider, Space.com and CNN. Kane has also been dubbed "The comedian" of the Mars One applicants by The Informant. In a different promotional video, Kane used music from the Star Wars Cantina Band in the background.

As of September, 2013, the Mars One Project had received over 200,000 applications and of those Kane's was listed as one of the top seven "Craziest Mars One Applic[ants]" by the Guardian Express. That ranking places Kane's application in the ~0.000035 percentile selected for coverage by the GE.

As of January, 2014, Kane was reported as being one of the top 1,058 applicants still being considered by Mars One for selection. This places Kane in the ~0.0053 percentile of applicants selected for this round. Out of those 1,058 applicants, 8 are from Utah.

Mars One Way video

In February 2014, Kane was featured in a documentary video called Mars One Way, a film that followed five Mars One hopefuls with their thoughts, contemplations and theories on leaving Earth forever. The video was directed by Skylar Nielsen and produced by the former along with Elaine Clark and Doug Fabrizio.

The cast, in order of appearance, were: Cody Reeder, Casey Hunter, Will Robbins, Katelyn “Kitty” Kane, Ken Sullivan, Becky Sullivan and Calvin Juárez. Fabrizio was also interviewed for the short.

Mars One Way was a Vimeo Staff Pick and featured on their site, being listed as appropriate for all audiences. Music included on the film was from artists God is an Astronaut with two songs and This Will Destroy You with one. Yahoo featured the video on their site as well.

The film was filmed in 720p and lasts 11 min 40 sec.

Other

Kane has been lampooned for the mission, with one columnist lamenting that Kane could be sent instead of Justin Bieber, Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh or Dennis Rodman. A column in the Denver Post has categorized Kane and fellow applicants as "nuts - uh, I mean civilian astronauts" and posits that Utah isn't all that different from Mars in reality.

The Daily Herald commissioned photos of Kane by photographer Mark Johnston for their publication.

A Megan Kane from Illinois also applied for the Mars One mission, but there is no known relation between the two Kanes.

See also

• Human outpost
• List of manned Mars mission plans in the 20th century
• Mars to Stay
• Space flight
• Space colonization