delaying it," said R.J. Musat, a 56-year-old computer operator at Cuyahoga Community College in Cleveland, Ohio.

Musat, who was among the hundreds of volunteers to e-mail the journal, said he's been interested in exploring Mars since he read Robert Heinlein's sci-fi novel "Stranger in a Strange Land" in the 1960s.

Among his self-described credentials: a familiarity with computers, the ability to execute high-tech tasks and a genius-level I.Q.

When asked why he would be willing to leave his son, family and friends behind, he said, "Christopher Columbus did it. It's a pioneering thing. ...Because it's there."

Scientist: Part of the Human Spirit Seeks Exploration, Risk

In an e-mail to the journal, an honorably discharged Navy veteran said he should be a crew member because, aside from his military background, he has never fathereda child and has no commitments on Earth he wouldn't be able to leave behind.

"Sign me up for the adventure of a lifetime!" he said.

Many who claimed no relevant training at all added their names to the list.

"I think I would be a great candidate because I could help people cope with the depression, I'm continuously optimistic and happy," wrote an 18-year-old man from Alaska.

The one-way mission proposal, titled "To Boldly Go: A One-Way Human Mission to Mars," is part of a book published by the journal that combines the work of more than 70 NASA scientists. "The Human Mission to Mars: Colonizing the Red Planet" is billed as a step-by-step "how-to" series on going to Mars.

"I do think there is still part of the human spirit that