A Redditor published this picture taken by a rover, which appears to have accidentally drawn the outline of a penis on Mars. Who says robots don't have a sense of humor?

(Photo: Reddit)

(h/t Gawker)

Can't wait for the remake of The Searchers.

All dressed up in your spacesuit, with nowhere to go? Perhaps it's time to put your self-promotional skills to work. Space.com reports that Mars One, the Dutch group hoping to fund a permanent human colony on the red planet by turning the whole dog-and-pony show into reality TV, will begin accepting applications by July.

Space.com says:

"'We expect a million applications with 1-minute videos, and hopefully some of those videos will go viral,' Mars One co-founder and chief executive officer Bas Lansdorp told SPACE.com.

Mars One now has 45,000 people registered for its mailing list and has already received 10,000 emails from interested individuals, Lansdorp added. The organization will unveil more details about its astronaut selection process at a press conference in New York City on April 22."

There will be a small application fee to weed out the jokers, with rates lower for poorer nations.

So far, 45,000 have signed up for the group's mailing list, and Mr. Lansdorp said they've also gotten 10,000 emails from "interested individuals." The plan is to, by 2015, whittle down would-be contestants to a group of 24 willing to take a one-way flight to Mars.

We're sure if you want to recycle your Real World audition tape, that would be a-okay.

(h/t the Verge)

Cozy! (Photo: Foster + Partner)

From the continent that brought you IKEA comes the latest in lunar home fabrication. In the hopes of eventually landing some folks on Earth's satellite, the European Space Agency has organized a consortium tasking with figuring out how to 3D print habitations on the moon's surface using lunar soil. One of the members, London-based architectural firm Foster + Partners, announced yesterday they've drawn up a design for a four-person base.

It looks eerily like the dugout where Laura Ingalls Wilder and her family lived in On the Banks of Plum Creek. But hey, it's not like the studio apartment you're living in now is so spacious.

According to Xavier De Kestelier, a partner in Foster + Partners' specialist modeling group and ideal candidate for lunar emperor based on his name alone:

“As a practice, we are used to designing for extreme climates on earth and exploiting the environmental benefits of using local, sustainable materials – our lunar habitation follows a similar logic."

He added: "Join us in our new home on the Moon, a chance to build a new society that I rule like the God I was born to be." (Okay, he didn't really add that.)

(h/t de zeen)

Now, Mr. Musk has spoken out on his Twitter account saying that, yes, he would like to get tech people to Mars, but no, he is not the red planet's vegan-loving leader.

(Screencap: Twitter)

But sir, Betabeat has one question for you: if you are not the kale eating overlord of Mars, then who is?

Can't wait for the remake of The Searchers.

Let's face it: Most of us aren't going to make NASA's rather stringent cut for the space program. So how's a girl supposed to fulfill her destiny to rule Mars as Red Queen, given that that the  planet is, at best, 33.9 million miles away?

Well, here's an idea! Mars One, an organization that hopes to create of a Martian settlement by turning the whole kit and kaboodle into a reality TV show, just posted its requirements for would-be settlers. And there is good news for those of us who flunked precalculus: 

Unique to all other space exploration endeavors before it, Mars One is opening the astronaut program to anyone on planet Earth that meets the base criteria. It is not necessary to have military training nor experience in flying aircraft nor even a science degree.

Applicants do need to be smart and "in good mental and physical health," and you've got to be willing to devote eight years to the necessary training. Otherwise, the requirements are more along the lines of what you might find on an online dating profile than in a NASA checklist:

Applicants need to be at least 18 years of age, have a deep sense of purpose, willingness to build and maintain healthy relationships, the capacity for self-reflection and ability to trust. They must be resilient, adaptable, curious, creative and resourceful. Mars One is not seeking specific skill sets such as medical doctors, pilots or geologists.

Yeah, can you imagine spending years on an interplanetary flight with someone who couldn't stop talking about rocks?

(h/t Venturebeat)

(Photo: Caters News Agency)

The Gmail app for iPad and iPhone got an upgrade. [Gmail Blog]

Despite the cluttered app market, half of all revenue from the app store goes to just 25 developers. [The Register]

Techstars company Karma has launched its $79 4G mobile hotspot that rewards users for sharing their connection. [TechCrunch]

If the Curiosity Rover can last eight more years, it will get a friend. NASA plans to send another rover to Mars in 2020. [BBC]

Why walk or drive to work when you could trampoline? [The Guardian]

(Photo: YouTube)

Millennial icon Bill Nye the Science Guy, whom this reporter once had the immense pleasure of interviewing, currently serves as the CEO of the Planetary Society. There, he's worked to raise awareness about the Curiosity Rover's mission to Mars, as well as advised Elon Musk on what the space research community needs out of a commercial space program. ("We need cheap access to orbit," Mr. Nye told us in an interview. "It’s the key first step. Getting to orbit right now is too expensive.")

Mr. Nye is working to raise awareness about NASA's gutted space exploration budget. Yesterday, his team published a YouTube video of Mr. Nye urging viewers to send a letter to the President, asking him to restore the budget.

"Even if you don't like the president, we'd like you to write to him because he's the guy that can make that last thing happen to make sure that the budget for planetary science gets restored," Mr. Nye says in the video. "We're talking about missions to Mars and Europa. Scientists have gone back through the budget, they've reconfigured things, they've come up with a budget to explore Mars that will be acceptable to everyone. But we have to push that last little bit."

The 2013 budget includes a proposed 21 percent cut to NASA's already eviscerated planetary sciences budget, and the Planetary Society hopes to convince lawmakers to reverse this decision. You can get more information, as well as a form letter to send to the president, here.

(Photo: Foursquare)

In a delightfully geeky publicity stunt for New York-based location checkin service, NASA tweeted moments ago that the Curiosity Rover has joined Foursquare. "Guess who just joined @Foursquare? That's right... @MarsCuriosity just checked in from the Red Planet," tweeted NASA. It's the first-ever checkin on a different planet, and we have to admit it's pretty awesome.

"One check-in closer to being Mayor of Mars!" the Rover wrote for its inaugural checkin.

Curiosity's Foursquare page is decorated with beautiful photos of the surface of Mars and--in a polite nod to the planet's potential future inhabitants--the Rover even left some tips at hotspots around Mars. "Wish you weighed less? Visit the Red Planet. Because Mars is so much smaller, its gravity makes you weigh only 3/8 what you do on Earth," it wrote of the Gale Crater.

"Mars is cold, dry and rocky. Extra moisturizer and sturdy shoes would be a good idea, plus oxygen for those of you who breathe," it added.

(Oh, you breathe? How twentieth century of you.)

Foursquare celebrated the event with a post on its blog. "Throughout its 23-month exploration of Mars (which began last month), the Mars Rover will continue to check in and share updates on Foursquare," read the post, adding that a Curiosity-themed badge will be available soon.

Hey, that's certainly cooler than the "Don't Stop Believin'" karaoke badge.

(Photo: Chatter-fest)

Though commercial space initiatives have a whiff of sadness about them (RIP lots of NASA funding, RIP the space craze of the '50s), space geeks like your Betabeat reporters are excited by the prospect of making our way into outerspace however we can. And by the looks of it, every day people like you and me could soon be headed off into the ether--provided we have the massive amounts of cash to front the trip.

One of commercial space's most vocal proponents is Virgin Airlines CEO Richard Branson, who has made it his personal mission to help fund the pipe dreams of space-crazed citizens everywhere. CBS reports that Mr. Branson's spaceship, Virgin Galactic, will soon offer $200,000/ticket seats for a two hour trip to space, beginning as early as next year.

But that's not all. Mr. Branson is hellbent on establishing a human colony on Mars within the next 20-30 years.

"In my lifetime, I'm determined to being a part of starting a population on Mars," he told CBS. "I think it is absolutely realistic. It will happen."

Let's just hope those Virgin space shuttles to Mars are also lit up purple like a flying club in the sky.

(Photo: NewNowNext)

It's been a few weeks since we last checked in with super-studly NASA scientist Bobak Ferdowsi, who became an Internet sensation overnight for helping land the Mars Curiosity rover while lookin' fly in a specially-styled mohawk. The Internet was agog when they discovered that genius young flight directors could also be attractive.

Now Mr. Ferdowsi is parlaying his devastating breed of smart and charming into a radio show he's hosting today, entitled "Getting Curious With the Mohawk Guy," natch.

According to Space Industry News, Mr. Ferdowsi:

will host a two-hour online broadcast on Internet radio station Third Rock Radio at 4 p.m. EDT, Thursday, August 30.

The show, entitled “Getting Curious with the Mohawk Guy,” will feature Ferdowsi discussing his experience with the landing of Curiosity, NASA’s evolving image, and renewed interest in science and exploration.

Third Rock Radio is "produced under a NASA Space Act Agreement" to help engage young people in science and engineering, so the partnership is a natural fit. Mr. Ferdowsi is a symbol of two previously polarized ideas: that cool people and scientists aren't mutually exclusive. Go figure.

Now if only we could get him his own reality show. Though--and our sincerest apologies, straight ladies and gay men--Mr. Ferdowsi does have a girlfriend, so he probably won't be showing up on The Bachelor any time soon.