Li Dapeng in a poster. [Photo/IC]

His confidence for human beings to land on Mars increased after China unveiled its design of a Mars probe on Tuesday but his own dream to settle down on Mars still seems unreachable.

Li Dapeng, a 34-year-old man from North China's Hebei province was one of the first 24 lucky ones among the 100 selected candidates from around the world offered one-way tickets by Mars One (initiated by a Dutch private company) to establish a permanent settlement on Mars. According its original plan, these finalists will attend a space capsule simulation training this September.

However, financial and technical problems dragged the project to a halt and Li has not been updated about its progress since July 27.

Compared with his frequent appearances in the media one and a half years ago, when news of his presence in the 100 candidates list came out, he has gradually retreated from the spotlight back to his ordinary life.

He had a second baby daughter, moved into a new apartment and kept on learning English, waiting for new emails from Mars One.