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[counting]

Personally, NO. Not in anything remotely like the ISS. In an O'neill cylinder with rockets on it? Maybe. I would also have to oversee the design and engineering of it. As much as I'd love to go into space, I'm too distrusting in RL to actually take some guy's word that this thing is safe. And I don't think the ISS would work so well. Granted there is no wind resistance, otherwise it would just fall apart, but there are still micro-meteors and meteors to worry about. Also, the ISS took at least a decade to make, with a lot of countries cooperating. There is no way one private company could do this unless they were asteroid mining and didn't need to bring the materials into orbit from earth. And using a space station like the ISS isn't very practical. It would be easier to use a spaceship that lands completely and is used as a modular habitat. After around 5 ships had been converted, assuming 3 were sent before hand, then you, and then another unmanned one, you could begin leaving the shuttles in orbit to form a space station similar to the ISS. Your best bet would still be an orbital O'neill cylinder with modular habitats sent beforehand. And you would need Asteroid mining which is currently banned by International law.

You built your own car, did you?

Who said that? I don't think I ever said anything about cars. You also said assume you're 20. That's half a decade away. And I wouldn't apply for a space program unless I had finished college so I would be around 25-27 I'm guessing.

And about the un law, I forgot that to do anything about it they would need weapons in space which would break their own laws. So as long as you stay in space you should be safe.

I think he is telling that unless you are an aerospace engineer and designer, you don't need to worry about the safety and design of the spaceship. It's everyday business for anyone who don't understand how airplane fly and designed to take a flight. You can't possibly understand the whole schematic when you are a late recruit, unless you hold an important possible to be the onboard engineer.

But in reality every astronaut DOES need the knowledge of how the spaceship function and complex manuals to guild them. It will be too late when things happened if only rely on ground crews. And there are too few people we can squeeze into a spaceship right now to waste anybody as pure pilot or pure doctor. Everyone must be multi-talented. Has basic knowledge about EVERYTHING regarding the ship.

[Sowelu]

Fuck yeah I'd jump at this, but I don't think they would take a guy who's missing a kidney.  Still.  If you could predict the future and said "You personally will only survive a year on the surface, then with 2/3 probability you'll die", I'd still go.  It's called being a pioneer, man.  You trade hardship and danger for the joys of a new frontier.

If SOMEone has to die to establish that first beachhead of mankind on another planet, I'd volunteer for the role.  I'm far from suicidal...I'm just a patriot of the human race.  Besides, I'd get to be on MARS.

Also:  0.05% chance of a cataclysmic failure during flight?  Are you kidding me?  That's insanity.  I'd put the odds at closer to 10%.

[ChairmanPoo]

You missed the cash part. Would you pay thousands of dollars just for the chance (not a guarantee by far) to get hired? And to do menial jobs, on top of that?

[ToonyMan]

Yeah I'll do it.  I personally don't care about what I'm doing in my life right now.

[Sowelu]

The 'menial jobs' part is wholly unimportant to me.

Thousands of dollars, that's a harder part to say hypothetically.  I don't have that kind of cash right now, but 'thousands of dollars' has a lot different value depending on if you're flat broke or pretty rich.

I plan to go into the Peace Corps.  I'm already resigned to blowing a couple years on something that will hurt me financially (my normal income is pretty nice) for an ideal.

[Jake]

However wonderful it would be to participate in the colonisation of another planet, I'm not spending almost five years of my life separated from my family and friends, during half of which I wouldn't even be able to pick up the phone or log into Skype and talk to them. I'd have a mental breakdown before completing basic training.

[counting]

However wonderful it would be to participate in the colonisation of another planet, I'm not spending almost five years of my life separated from my family and friends, during half of which I wouldn't even be able to pick up the phone or log into Skype and talk to them. I'd have a mental breakdown before completing basic training.

You can write to them. People without phones have survived hundreds of thousands years. 

[Grakelin]

However wonderful it would be to participate in the colonisation of another planet, I'm not spending almost five years of my life separated from my family and friends, during half of which I wouldn't even be able to pick up the phone or log into Skype and talk to them. I'd have a mental breakdown before completing basic training.

You can write to them.

Is this a joke?

[Eleaza]

Can women join? Are they allow to bring families along? If there are friends along the trip, I don't mind no phone calls.

[iceball3]

Can women join? Are they allow to bring families along? If there are friends along the trip, I don't mind no phone calls.

Why wouldn't women be allowed to join?
Though, I don't think you'll get any friends, or families going along with you. Just you and whoever else got hand picked for the flight.

[Eleaza]

Me friends not going, I not going.
And isn't it safer with friends in a small ship than a group of strangers?

[iceball3]

Me friends not going, I not going.
And isn't it safer with friends in a small ship than a group of strangers?

Consider this. Your friends have absolutely none of the training required to run or use or anything involving spacecraft. Is that exactly safe?
Sure, they're a bit strangers on the official craft, but they're trained as you would be, and take the situation seriously. At least, they should be.

[Eleaza]

Strangers not friends arguing for months in small space, no safe.
Friends trained together, all going, safer.

[iceball3]

Strangers not friends arguing for months in small space, no safe.
Friends trained together, all going, safer.

Except that you need the collaborated money between you to actually compensate for training and many other costs, per person.
Just as well, not all of your friends will actually qualify for space flight.
In fact, very few will be ready from training at any given time to be with you. And some of them might be culled right off the bat in initial exams and such.
Even if all of you make it past all of the training and exams by the time the flight is supposed to happen, which is nigh impossible, there will still be other people who'll qualify better than most of your friends at the time you launch, so you'll still end up on a flight without your friends.
just as well:

Strangers not friends arguing for months in small space, no safe.

Considering the fact that training is specifically ushered in as to rid of most indignant arguing habits, really.
Also, how do you know all of your friends want to go to space?
What if your friends have friends that you don't know that they'll leave behind?
Really, if all your friends go, then you'll be the only ones with all your friends there, because people will have friends that you don't know as well.

[PTTG??]

I think a good benchmark would be as someone else pointed out, nuclear submarine crews. Or even aircraft carriers, given the population. Regular people given a good deal of training and put under continuous stress can still function pretty well.