400 People Say They'd Sign Up for One-Way Mars Trip

A voyage to Mars would be long, boring, could cause profound depression, and, oh yes, would be nearly impossible to return from. Who in the world would want to sign up for that? Apparently, lots of people. The Journal of Cosmology recently ran an article explaining the logistics of a one-way journey to Mars—and more than 400 readers wrote in to volunteer to make the trip, Fox News reports. Most wouldn't meet NASA's requirements, but the mission the article envisioned was a privately funded venture.

“The emails volunteering were a complete surprise,” the editor says. “At first, we thought the emails were a joke. … Then we received more and more, with men giving their reasons and qualifications, and we realized they were completely serious.” Nor are they deterred by warnings from psychologists. “I envision life on Mars to be stunning, frightening, lonely, quite cramped and busy,” says one applicant. “But my experience would be so different from all 6 to 7 billion human beings.” (More Mars stories.)