Maggie Lieu , who has been short-listed for a one-way ticket to Mars, has defended the nature of the project.
One study claimed that the project - which is set to fly 11 travellers to the big red planet - would see the would-be astronauts DIE after a mere 68 days.
Tile Hill native Maggie , 24, insisted that the colonisation of Mars is inevitable and can be compared to many ground-breaking technologies of yesteryear, such as mobile phones and computers.
The University of Birmingham PhD student said: “The colonisation of Mars is going to happen inevitably, the technology is pretty much there, we only need a little push to get us there with the funding.
“If you think back about 20 years ago people don’t have mobile phones and computers were the size of rooms.
“Now we have little portable handheld devices where we can access the internet around the world. So if you talked to someone in the olden days they would have thought you were crazy and I think this is similar because no one’s ever done it before.
“It’s quite a shock to the world.”
Maggie is among the final 100 people on a shortlist, with training set to begin in an effort to narrow the candidates down to a final 24 ahead of the 140 million-mile one-way trip in 2024.
The project - which is set to cost $6 billion - will send off the selected astronauts in pairs, with the goal of starting a permanent base and settlement on the planet, which is fourth furthest away from the sun.
A study, by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, found that without technical innovations they would suffocate within an estimated 68 days.
The research also questioned the number of rockets involved in transporting the astronauts.