Ever since I was a child, I have wanted to go to outer space. I still don't know what's out there, but I want to find out.

But then my eyesight got poor and I started wearing glasses. I scraped my knee when I was 10 and was left with a huge scar, so my dream of riding a spaceship was crushed. I still haven't saved enough to pay for a space tour like Charles Simonyi, the Hungarian-American billionaire who traveled to space in 2007 and 2009. But there's no need to despair, right? I've still got about 30 years to save the kind of money necessary.

It was therefore with great excitement that I heard recent news about Mars One, a Dutch nonprofit organization that plans to send four people on a one-way trip to Mars by 2023. Anyone can apply for the mission by uploading a one-minute video explaining their motivation and sending an application fee of between $5 and $75. The fee for Chinese applicants is $11.

How can I pass on such an opportunity - to be among the first to land and settle on the "red planet?" I could see its two moons, meet the Martians and even die on Mars. It's exactly the kind of achievement that would ensure my immortality. Count me in!

Apparently, a lot of people share this sentiment. Almost 80,000 people from about 120 countries applied within two weeks after the competition was launched on April 22. Americans currently lead the pack with over 17,000 applicants, although China isn't too far behind, boasting about 10,000 applicants.

But there has been some rather unpleasant news. Some Chinese media reports have accused the Mars One project of being a scam. They reported that the organization is registered at a residential address.

To hell with you, naysayers. Big deal! How many Internet giants started out in a garage or a college dorm? There was a time not so long ago when such a space odyssey was pure science fiction.

Who is to say that it won't work? With enough people signing up and paying the fees, they might raise enough money and cooperate with scientists to make the trip possible for ordinary people.

Hitching a one-way ride to Mars isn't too outlandish an idea. Scientists have long proposed such trips, and have even come up with some different ideas.

Former NASA engineer James C. McLane III proposed in 2006 a "one-man, one-way" trip to colonize Mars. He even proposed that the manned Mars mission could be arranged as soon as 2017.

Even if Mars One turns out to be a scam, you've got to admit it's a pretty clever one. The beauty of the whole scheme is that no one can prove it is a con. Unless the creators of the project are so dumb as to abort the whole thing and disappear, they could play along with it every step of the way.

Anyway, it's best to have a little faith. One only needs to remember 2008 American sci-fi thriller The X-Files: I want to believe. If that's still too much to ask, have a little sense of humor.