Mars One

There are not many opportunities to be first anymore. What there has to be discovered or explored on our own planet has pretty much been discovered and explored and the names of the men who got there first are household names so all gone are the chances for generations of children to be taught about us.  
The only first left is to go to Mars and Mars One has opened applications for the first settlers on the Red Planet.
The drawback is that it's a one-way trip as after spending time living in the weaker gravitational Martian field, it would be almost impossible to re-adjust back to the Earth's much stronger gravity says the organisers.
Living in domes, energy will be generated from solar panels, water will be recycled and extracted from the soil and the astronauts will grow their own food and new explorers will join every two years. 
'There's no liquid water, the atmospheric pressure is practically a vacuum, radiation levels are higher and temperatures vary wildly' said a Mars One spokesman who was supposedly meant to be selling the trip  'Radiation exposure is a concern, especially during the trip. This can lead to increased cancer risk, a lowered immune system and possibly infertility'.
Apart from the obvious risks of being fried by radiation or finding out your capsule on Mars is next to the toilets, there is a selection process as we don't just want anyone colonising Mars. 
The successful applicants must have an indomitable spirit, open and tolerant of ideas, be over 18, free from any disease, non-drinker and non-smoker, perfect eyesight, free from any psychiatric disorders and be between 157cm and 190cm tall.