Humans could be living on Mars in just 10 years if a plan to build a colony on the planet is successful.

Dutch company Mars One is asking people to apply to go to Mars, with no possibility of return, where their every move would be recorded for television.

More than 75,000 people including up to 45 Australian hopefuls have already applied for a one-way ticket.

If successful, they must train for up to seven years and commit their entire life to the project. The ability of humans to successfully travel and land on the planet, and then overcome various obstacles casts doubt on the reality of the plan.

But the idea has been sprouting among scientific circles for years.

CSIRO sensor networks research director Paulo de Souza said it was not a matter of "if" humans would get to Mars, but "when".

Professor de Souza has worked with the NASA Exploration Rover program for more than a decade, sending robotic vehicles to Mars to collect samples and learn more about the planet.

"For us as a human race to be present in the universe in the future we need to make this happen, because Earth will not be here forever," he said.

"It is like what happened with Captain Cook in the past - he got into a vessel and crossed the ocean, and we need to explore.

"Mars is just beside us, it is not that far away, and this Mars One project is a step."

Professor de Souza said current technology and funding did not make the project feasible, but praised the project for its success in creating debate.

He said the challenges of humans living on Mars were great.

Astronauts would need to generate their own water, food and energy supplies, and low gravity levels and high radiation would be major issues.

"If I could compare, going to the moon would be just like swimming in an Olympic pool. Going to Mars would be like swimming and crossing the Pacific," he said.

"The absence of gravity would have a huge implication on bones and muscles.

"You have to generate the air you are going to breathe, which is possible, but the issue is how to accommodate all these systems, and if they fail, then people are going to die.

"Cosmic radiation would be experienced on the way to Mars and also on landing - we have protection in Earth from a magnetic field but we don't have that on Mars.

"Humans would be bombarded by dangerous radiation that would naturally create problems, including cancer." Professor de Souza said Mars was a cold planet, with temperatures as low as minus 120 degrees in winter.

"It is so cold that the CO2 in the atmosphere would be ice, so you need energy, and you can generate this from batteries which can last many, many years, but that doesn't last forever."

Professor de Souza said perhaps the biggest challenge for humans was the isolation.

"You need to have access to big telescopes to talk to humans and the communication is not easy because we have an approximate 20 minute delay between a message being sent from Earth to Mars," he said.

"They need to really have a strong sense of purpose, of what they are doing to make sure they will succeed.

"You need to be with someone in a small cubicle for up to nine months on the way to Mar.

"They need to stick together for that long period of time, and it is those psychological aspects that they really need to consider.

"It is not just a matter or engineering, but also how the human beings will cope."

Professor de Souza said he would go to Mars "in a heartbeat".

"But I don't know if my life insurance would cover it, or if my family would be happy," he said.

"Projects like this have to engage the younger generations, who may be reading this and could become the first astronauts on Mars.

"It is very interesting and I am incredibly in support of things like this - when you take an image from Mars looking at Earth, it makes you think about many things on what is happening in our planet, and how we can live together in a better way."

•Visit www.mars-one.com