The federal project joins efforts by groups such as Project Budburst, which has collected seasonal data from more than 15, 000 volunteers across the country, and an educational project called Journey North, funded by the Annenberg Foundation, which every year mobilizes students in some 6, 000 schools to report sightings of migrating birds, butterflies and flowering plants.

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The project promises to reduce the journey time between the cities to less than 30 minutes by 2024.

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However, even if nothing comes from this final, kamikaze journey, the project has already proved to be a success.

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The aim of the 17 month-long Mars500 project was to study the physical and psychological effects that the much longer journey to Mars might have on future astronauts.

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People following his journey could donate to promote the program, One World Futbol Project said.

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This project ends in November, but there's already talk of another similar journey in the West.

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Project officer Marion McDonald said travellers were being encouraged to "share the costs, share the journey and share the craic".

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