Valve engineer applies to Mars One program

Non-profit organization Mars One recently began accepting applications for the chance to travel to Mars in order to colonize the red planet, with the only caveat being that you'll be living there for the rest of your life. That didn't stop most applicants, though, as thousands of applications have been sent in to Mars One, one of which is from a Valve engineer.

Jeep Barnett, who already has one of the coolest jobs around, has applied to become an astronaut for Mars One where he could be one of the chosen few to be taken to Mars forever. Barnett is a programmer at Valve, the game studio behind the Left 4 Dead, Portal, Half-Life, and Team Fortress series. He wants to quit his Valve gig and go to Mars full-time.

In his application, Barnett says that he's always been interested in science fiction, and always grew up believing that such things would eventually turn into reality. A trip to Mars would put Barnett in a first-person experience where he would be able to live his childhood fantasy — traveling to another planet.

Frankly, Barnett would go to Mars ASAP if asked, saying that while such a trip would obviously require years of training, he'd be up for the trip by "next week" if needed. Of course, this doesn't mean that Barnett hates his job at Valve, but going to Mars is definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and Barnett doesn't seem keen on letting it pass him by.

[via Kotaku]