Writing competition 131; "Lost in space"

It was a cruise trip to Mars and should've taken only 7 months. My College was prestigious and had for many years been the best and most equipped in astro and deep space studies. The decision was made at some point to send five of their best and brightest (or so it would seem) on a trip to set a record and put the institution name in platinum. The date was set and everyone said goodbyes in advance.

On the day of the launch, friends, family, college mates and random spectators were present to cheer the lift off. It was something to behold.
Each of us had undergone series of training and diet routine for months and were just as ready as the pumped up rocket. The lift off was magnificent and letting go of the boosters when we got into the thermosphere was even more thrilling than the simulation and drills.
Soon we were in space and our location was locked so we had more time for chit-chat and marveling. One of the crew members Dennis when we were having a laugh jokingly brought up the idea of visiting the nearest Nebula; Helix. We put him off with the story of how his idea was similar to that of Icarus the son of Apollos who flew too close to the Sun even after his father had instructed him. It was fun at that moment.

Seven months is a long time when you are stuck with only five people and after a month or two, you exhaust all your jokes. Probably the next two or three months, you've know each other so well, you practically can switch places and no one would notice except for the difference in facial appearance.

Dennis soon began blabbing about the Helix Nebula and how it was rumored to be the remnant of a dying Sun. His argument was that we visit it for the journey to Mars is charted territory and soon we would be forgotten because someone younger or blind or even unborn would set another record and we would be forgotten but going to such a place and discovering new planets, even accidentally would give us immortality.
His argument was sound but none of us were foolish enough to agree because though it was the closest Nebula to Earth, it still was almost 700 lightyears away from Earth.

But as all sin begins and all deception is sealed in stone, a constant hearing of his rant soon made them appealing to us and towards the end of the fifth month, we decided to change course and told the station we were going on a short detour before cutting them off. we had to cut them off as they would not at all listen to the excuse, Mars was the mission.
Dennis's face was lit, his heart was set, for he thought his greed would finally bring him glory.

Now its been a year in space and we've exhausted our food even our re-supply vehicles. There is no glory for Dennis, no honor for us, only endless floating and an unquenchable reminder of Had I Known.
We were 'lost in space'.