What if NASA offered you a chance to go to Mars? Would you go?

DO YOU WANT TO GO TO MARS?
A lot of people, including myself, really love outer space. But, do you really want to go there? Probably not!

If NASA called you and gave you the chance to be one of only a dozen people to go on the first trip to Mars, would you go?
It sounds cool. I have always wanted to go to outer space. That would be so awesome to spend one day in space. If, it only took a few hours to get to Mars, that would be cool to.
But, be careful what you wish for, because, you might get your wish!
On the space station, they recycle water. In other words, the water they use to flush the toilet gets filtered and cleaned. Then it goes back into a tank and the Astronauts drink that water! Then, they pee it out into the toilet, it gets filtered again, goes back into the holding tank and repeats the process over and over again! Yuck!
They lose muscle mass, because, in almost 0 gravity, you don't get to work your muscles very much. They have to exercise 2 hours a day to prevent muscle loss.
Food doesn't taste the same in space as it does on Earth.
What would you do if you can out of food or if the food you have with you spoiled or rotted and it was no longer safe to eat? The nearest grocery store is about 35,000 miles away, on Earth.
It is a very small space on a rocket, space shuttle or the ISS. It would get boring up there in those cramped quarters. If there is someone up there with you that you don't get along with, that would suck for you! It will take about 5 or 6 months to get to Mars with today's technology. You'll be on the planet for probably 6 months to a year, then a 6 month long trip back to Earth. All that time, you'd be with someone you hate!
The closest Doctor to you will be on Earth! If you get sick or injured, you are on your own. You will be able to call the Doctor on Earth and talk to him, but, he can't give you any prescription medication, stitch up a wound, put a cast on a broken bone, perform surgery or anything like that!
Mars is much smaller than Earth. That means there will be less gravity. That will have an affect on your weight, the amount of pressure and stress on your Spine, how you walk and other things. Astronauts have no stress on their spine on the International Space Station. In fact, while their in space, their spine stretches out and the Astronauts are about an inch or two taller in space. After 6 months, they come back to Earth and the Earth's gravity pulls their spine down and puts stress on it again. That causes back pain.
There are a lot of dust storms up there. The wind blows the Red, Iron Oxide all around and it will be hard to see. The wind might even blow you around as well. You will be much lighter on Mars than on Earth.
(The surface of the planet is made up of Iron Oxide, which is basically rust from iron, just like on a car. That's what gives Mars it's red color.)
You'll have to wear a space suit everywhere you go. You might get a hole in your suit, which you can't just fix with duct tape. You could also run out of Oxygen or have problems with your O2 tank. Either one of those things: a hole in your suit or problems with your Oxygen, would be life threatening.
It is very cold and dusty up there on Mars. The atmosphere doesn't stop Metiors or harmful UV Ray's, Gamma Ray's, X Ray's, and other harmful things from space as well as the Earth's atmosphere does.
If your space ship breaks down, there's no one there to fix it and no way for it to be fixed. You would never make it back home to Earth.
I am sure you'd have to sign a waiver before you went to Mars, saying you know all the risks you're taking and if anything happens to you your family can't sue!
On the bright side, you would die famous. You would always be known as one of the first people to ever land on Mars. NASA would probably name a satellite after you, your birthday might become a national holiday, people would write books and movies about you and your name would be as famous as Neil Armstrong, Galileo, Stephen Hawking and Edwin Hubble.