Meet the Austrian who might be going to Mars
The Mars One mission that hopes to ‘resettle’ 24 humans on the red planet in 2026 announced the next stage of the gruelling selection process this week. One of the remaining 100 candidates - the Mars 100 - is Austrian creative and rock magazine publisher Günther Golob.
Credit: Mars One
Forty-year-old Golob, who is originally from Carinthia but has lived in Graz since 2001, managed to fight off nearly 200,000 other hopeful applicants to make it to the final 100.
"Mars needs entertainment. The whole project should be fun - that's where I see my main task," he said in his promotional video.
So what else do we know about this Austrian who might be going to Mars?
He could rock their world
As well as publishing Austria’s rock magazine X-Rockz, Golob also played in several bands from 1999 until 2004, when he founded the music agency “gXSound”. He believes this experience could help him be in charge of ‘fun’ on Mars, as well as help take the lead on communications. With his long rocker hair and a Harley Davidson motorbike, we think he could teach Martians a thing or two about being cool. “I have to of course give up smoking,” he admitted to Profil magazine earlier this year.
He’s a family man
Dad to Niclas, 16, Romy, 8 and Matthias, 7, he has said that his children are happy for him, although he thinks the two younger ones don’t fully understand it. Asked by Kleine Zeitung whether he would miss his kids, Golob said he hopes he would “not miss anything on Mars” adding that it’s not as if he would have disappeared as “the whole world will be looking at the settlers”. “I hope that my children will be proud of me,” he added. His dad is also supportive, having told him if he were young again and had the chance to go to Mars, he would also be interested.
A man of many talents
As well as being a musician, publisher and motorbike enthusiast, Golob describes himself as an art lover, project manager, a passionate intermediary in the creative scene and a multiplier of the economy. We’re not exactly sure what the last one means but he certainly sounds like a useful guy to have around when deserted on a desert rock millions of miles from home.
Committed to the cause
Golob has said he “dreamed of being an astronaut since he was a child” and has also held a long-time fascination for scientific discoveries. So committed is he to the project, that he prepared for the latest round by becoming a “minimalist” and selling his car, motorbike and even ending his insurance. He has also given up his magazine publishing job and lives off sponsorship money. “It was always a dream of mine, to do something meaningful,” he said.
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Credit: Mars One
Forty-year-old Golob, who is originally from Carinthia but has lived in Graz since 2001, managed to fight off nearly 200,000 other hopeful applicants to make it to the final 100.
"Mars needs entertainment. The whole project should be fun - that's where I see my main task," he said in his promotional video.
So what else do we know about this Austrian who might be going to Mars?
He could rock their world
As well as publishing Austria’s rock magazine X-Rockz, Golob also played in several bands from 1999 until 2004, when he founded the music agency “gXSound”. He believes this experience could help him be in charge of ‘fun’ on Mars, as well as help take the lead on communications. With his long rocker hair and a Harley Davidson motorbike, we think he could teach Martians a thing or two about being cool. “I have to of course give up smoking,” he admitted to Profil magazine earlier this year.
He’s a family man
Dad to Niclas, 16, Romy, 8 and Matthias, 7, he has said that his children are happy for him, although he thinks the two younger ones don’t fully understand it. Asked by Kleine Zeitung whether he would miss his kids, Golob said he hopes he would “not miss anything on Mars” adding that it’s not as if he would have disappeared as “the whole world will be looking at the settlers”. “I hope that my children will be proud of me,” he added. His dad is also supportive, having told him if he were young again and had the chance to go to Mars, he would also be interested.
A man of many talents
As well as being a musician, publisher and motorbike enthusiast, Golob describes himself as an art lover, project manager, a passionate intermediary in the creative scene and a multiplier of the economy. We’re not exactly sure what the last one means but he certainly sounds like a useful guy to have around when deserted on a desert rock millions of miles from home.
Committed to the cause
Golob has said he “dreamed of being an astronaut since he was a child” and has also held a long-time fascination for scientific discoveries. So committed is he to the project, that he prepared for the latest round by becoming a “minimalist” and selling his car, motorbike and even ending his insurance. He has also given up his magazine publishing job and lives off sponsorship money. “It was always a dream of mine, to do something meaningful,” he said.
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