NASA was interviewing professionals they were thinking of sending to
Mars. The touchy part was that only one guy could go and it would be a
one-way trip, the guy not ever returning to Earth.

The interviewer asked the first applicant, an engineer, how much he
wanted to be paid for going. "One million dollars," the engineer
answered. "And I want to donate it all to my alma mater--Rice
University."

The next applicant was a doctor, and the interviewer asked him the same
question. "Two millions dollars," the doctor said. "I want to give a
million to my family and leave the other million for the advancement of
medical research."

The last applicant was a lawyer. When asked how much money he wanted, he
whispered in the interviewer's ear, "Three million dollars." "Why so
much more than the others?" the interviewer asked. The lawyer replied,
"You give me three million, I'll give you one million, I'll keep a
million, and we'll send the engineer!"