78,000+ applicants. I'd wager once you eliminate the crazies and the shortsighted you'd still end up with dozens of thoughtful, capable hopefuls.
Maybe it's like looking at the ocean from the shores of europe a few centuries ago? The first few adventurers are pretty much a write-off, although if you pull it off you'll be better known centuries after your death than you were when you were alive?
All that being said, the distances are so mind numbingly great that it will take generations of traveler's to get anywhere inhabitable. Maybe this is the first true step for man in space?
If they do end up going ahead with it, I wish them nothing but the best of luck. But, ya, not for me either. Mining a near earth asteroid? That's do-able. Have a plan to terraform mars? I'm listening. One way trip to set foot on a known, close, uninhabitable planet for the rest of your short life? I'll pass, thanks.
