When the Mars One project was announced, a lot of people said “Who would be nutty enough to volunteer for that?” Most of the people saying that were the types who are less than amazed by science, who never liked Star Trek because of all those people with weird, scaly foreheads, and who complain about funding for NASA, saying “I think we should fix the problems here on Earth, first.” Basically, morons.
Because you can’t spell space exploration without sex
But, admittedly, it takes a special kind of person to volunteer for a mission like this. They are volunteering to travel 55 million kilometers to live the rest of their natural born lives on a dark, barren (Earth’s worst desert is like a tropical garden, in comparison) rock, with no chance of ever coming home again. I wouldn’t do it.
Nonetheless, I was certain there would be lots of people interested, and the human race has not failed my expectations. Out of over 200 thousand applicants , the project organizers have whittled it down to 1,058 finalists. That’s right. Only about one out of 200 made the final cut. Eventually, they are looking for 40 people.
Now, I’m sure among that 200,000, there were a few flakes. People who thought they would see God. People who have insurmountable problems on Earth. People who’ve watched a lot of Star Trek and thought they were going to hook up with someone who looks a bit like 7 of 9.
(fun fact about Jeri Ryan, who played 7 of 9: When her ex-husband, Jack Ryan, was running for the Senate in 2004, details of their divorce became public. Apparently, being married to the hottest woman in the Delta Quadrant wasn’t enough for him, and he’d tried to get her to go kinky and have group sex with whips and chains at clubs where they do that sort of thing – I’ve never been to one but, apparently, Republican politicians know where these places are. Anyway, he was forced to withdraw from the race, handing an easy victory to the Democratic candidate, a newcomer named Barack Obama.)
But, to get back to the main topic, not 199,000 of them. Those 1,058 finalists were chosen from among stiff competition.
When Europeans colonized the Americas, passage could be had by anyone who could pay for it, and some paid in unorthodox ways. Debtors came. Criminals came. Religious fanatics came, in droves. When the British colonized Australia, they just sent a bunch of convicts.
The colonization of space is different. We are sending the best, the brightest, the fittest and the bravest. I am proud that there are such humans among us.
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