Mars One was a questionable organization that received investments by claiming it would use it to land humans on Mars. It was not a credible company, and many consider it was a scam to take money from investors and participants.
Mars One had a lot of media attention, but it was dissolved without any achievement. Flat-Earthers use it to discredit space travel. In reality, the company was not credible in the first place, and practically nobody in the aerospace industry thought Mars One was serious in their objective.
The Mars One Foundation had just four employees. It was never an aerospace company and did not manufacture any hardware. It had no rockets or spacecraft. It had no contracts with other companies providing rocket launches and spacecraft design.
Their budget was at least a magnitude too low, according to experts.
Mars One did not meet their astronaut candidates in person. All communications were done using Skype communications. The candidates were required to donate any appearance fees to Mars One. Furthermore, they practically ripped off the candidates by forcing them to buy merchandise. The top candidates were people who have generated the most money for Mars One.
References
- Mars One Finalist Explains Exactly How It‘s Ripping Off Supporters – Elmo Keep
- Goodbye Mars One, The Fake Mission To Mars That Fooled The World – Forbes
- Mars One – Wikipedia