The plot sounds like an amalgamation of Schwarzenegger films, but a Dutch company may have the first viable plan to execute a manned mission to - and settlement on - Mars.

Mars One, founded by Dutch entrepreneur Bas Lansdorp, counts among its “Ambassadors” Nobel physicist Gerard ‘t Hooft and reality TV Producer Paul Romer. Romer's participation is especially important because Lansdorp intends to fund the project by turning it into a reality TV series.

The Mars One plan is still more of an outline at this stage. The first four of 40 astronauts will be crowdsourced via reality TV show in 2013, and their training will begin in a desert preproduction of the Martian colony. Then, in 2016, the first supplies will be launched to Mars, dropping in the vicinity of the planned colony. In 2018 a robotic reconnaissance mission will site the exact location of the colony (Earthlings can follow along via live streaming video). Then, in 2022, the first humans will embark for a Martian landing in 2023.

Their timeline tracks roughly to the prediction by Elon Musk that man will land on Mars in about 10 years. And he plans to make a go of it too? Do we have a Martian space race in the offing? Follow this and other developments via our Humans On Mars forecast.

(Photo Credit: Mars One)