That is a question usually asked by the female partner in a relationship.

But in this case, I'm putting it to the wife.

If you REALLY love me, you'll say, "Sure, honey, whatever makes you happy."

Well, in this case, 'happy' could be interpreted by others as: insane, nutso, cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs, or, well, you get the gist.

What is striking my fancy these days is an Associated Press feature that ran recently in our paper.

Seems a tycoon wants to send a couple into space.

Not just space - deep space, as in all the way to Mars.

Yep, the article said NASA engineer-turned-multimillionaire investment consultant Dennis Tito will be funding the more than $1 billion venture - called Inspiration Mars - and he wants a couple to climb aboard a rocket and spend 501 days (16 months) looping over to the red planet and back.

Why do I want to go, you say? You must be nuts, you say, wanting to be confined with your wife for that long?

Well, maybe I am.

But, on the other hand, how often do any of us really get to make history?

I am sure there will be certain tasks to perform, and I don't expect it to be a free ride. But still, we'll be the first people to see Mars up close - not through a telescope or in an image some fly-by camera came up with.

We'll be there.

We'll return to ticker tape parades. The world will be our oyster, once we've successfully navigated re-entry. Literally - it's all downhill from there.

Do I expect the trip to be all wine and roses? Surely, not. I'll find a way to screw up the trip in some way, shape or form. It'll be an epic mistake, I'm sure of that.

Something like:

* My snoring has transcended gravity and atmospheric pressure.

* I've given her 'that look' for 87 straight days.

* I forgot to take out the trash again. It's only 8 feet away - how can you forget, she'll say?

* I invaded her 'space' for the 17th time today.

* I made a navigational error (turned left instead of right) and now we'll be seeing Pluto instead. Oh, and we now won't make it back to Earth. Try to make the best of it, honey ...

* I underestimated the amount of underwear I packed. 100 pairs was not enough.

* She spends the first 124 days not talking to me because I wouldn't turn around and pick up my mother-in-law.

At any rate, even with all the above being a given, I still want to go.

Even with the news that we'll have to drink our recycled urine and sweat - oh, and no showers- I still want to go.

Even knowing that all the stuff I buy on eBay during the trip, I won't be able to use for two years, I still want to go.

So, honey, again - if you really love me, let's do this together and make history.

Even if only one of us comes back alive.

Jerry Hitchcock will be posting updates from space as soon as the rocket carrying he and his bride makes it to orbit. For now he can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2017, or via email at jhitchcock@cdapress.com