Mars One Foundation Accepting Bitcoin For Private Manned Mission to Mars

Have some spare bitcoins you’d like to give away but don’t know how? The Mars One Foundation — the private operation hoping to launch a manned mission to mars (a human settlement) — is now accepting bitcoins using BitPay for a  number of perks on Indiegogo, a crowdsourcing platform.

Bitcoin contributions can earn the contributor anything from a mission backstage pass for the equivalent of $10 USD, all the way to being a Mars One benefactor and receiving a VIP tour for the equivalent of $25,000 USD.

But will the project even lift off? With 18 days remaining, the Mars One foundation needs to raise up to $400,000 on Indiegogo, and so far have accrued $143,197. Still, $400,000 seems like a tiny budget for an interplanetary mission — though Mars One says this funding is for the “first major step” of the mission, which entails a lander and satellite mission in four years.

What do you think?