2024-03-07 13:17:31
The first landing on the Red Planet is expected in 2029.
The eccentric billionaire and high-tech investor Elon Musk has announced that he plans to send 1 million people to Mars, and indicated that he already has a plan for how to do it. According to him, the mass resettlement to the Red Planet should begin in 2029. For then, the billionaire plans the rockets of his company “Space X” to land on Mars for the first time. It was initially claimed that this would happen this year, then the target was pushed back to 2026, and finally 2029 was given as a realistic date.
Musk revealed his bombastic intention on his own social network X.
In response to a post claiming that SpaceX’s Starship will take us to Mars, Musk said: “We’re drawing up a plan to take a million people to Mars. Civilization passes the Great Monoplanet Filter only when Mars can survive even if supply ships from Earth stop coming”.
The Great Filter refers to the idea that a species (humanity in this case) must overcome some form of barrier to survival, ie. climate change or nuclear Armageddon. The Big Filter concept is also one possible answer to Fermi’s Paradox, which describes the discrepancy between the lack of evidence for extraterrestrial life and the probability that extraterrestrial life exists somewhere in the universe.
Musk has long preached that humanity must become a “multiplanetary species,”
to ensure long-term human survival.
He said back in 2021: “Almost half a century has passed since humans were last on the moon. This is too long, we need to get back there and have a permanent moon base, a big permanently occupied moon base. And then build a city on Mars and become a space civilization, a multiplanetary species”.
One day flights to Mars will be something like the current flights between countries, is convinced the mega-rich, who is known for his eccentric ideas, but also does the impossible to be able to realize them. His company has already achieved a dream that until recently seemed impossible by creating reusable rockets capable of launching into space and returning to Earth. Thus, space travel became much more efficient and economical.
According to Musk’s plans, the metropolis of 1 million people on Mars will be realized by 2050.
Many new jobs will also be created there
In order to realize his intentions, the billionaire plans to build a fleet of 1,000 Starship rockets, the idea of which is to realize trips in the distant Space, the edition “Business Insider” reveals details. Each rocket will be capable of carrying 100 tons of cargo and 100 passengers.
“Starship” is the most powerful launch vehicle ever created. It is expected to make its third test flight this month after the first two failed last year. However, they led to a number of improvements after a thorough investigation was made into the causes of the problems. It is estimated that SpaceX engineers will create at least 20 prototypes before reaching the spacecraft, which will be able to carry both people and cargo. Since both of its stages will be reusable, each launch will cost no more than $2 million, the company estimated.
When the time comes for the first flight to the Red Planet and the rocket is fully operational, Musk intends for 3 launches per day.
“Everyone should be able to go, and there will be loans for those who don’t have money,”
writes the billionaire. In addition to people on Mars, at least initially, a certain amount of food, water, construction materials to build a settlement for the aliens, as well as high-tech life support systems will have to be transported. “Megatons per year in orbit are necessary for life to become multiplanetary,” Musk also points out. Annual interplanetary migrants will be about 100,000 people.
The world’s No. 2 richest man plans to take advantage of the short time windows of alignment between the orbits of Earth and Mars that occur every 25 months. This allows spacecraft to break out of Earth’s orbit and embark on a low-fuel journey to Mars. Musk plans to seize this opportunity by loading the Mars fleet into Earth orbit, then sending all 1,000 ships to Mars during that 30-day period.
The plans of the American billionaire are one thing, but the opinions of scientists are not so enthusiastic. Former Stanford University professor Scott Hubbart told Deutsche Welle that
life on Mars will resemble life on an Antarctic base, and few people will be able to endure it
He also argues that the journey to the Red Planet itself would be too dangerous and take half a year. The professor is sure that people will set foot on the planet that could shelter them, but according to him there are no conditions for mass settlement there.
Other experts recall that because of the extremely high radiation, it is very risky to work on the surface of Mars. To this is added the cosmic radiation from the bowels of the universe. Protection can be provided, for example, by lead plates, but they are too heavy to be transported to Mars. So walks outside will be more of an exception. Because of the radiation and extremely high temperature fluctuations (up to 100 degrees Celsius), going outdoors will be too expensive and dangerous. Which means that, at least for the moment, the billionaire’s visions sound rather utopian to the scientific community. Added to this is the fact that the construction of a city on the Red Planet will cost hundreds of billions of dollars, which is not clear who will bear it.
NASA is looking for a 4th to be done on Martians 1 year
The American space agency NASA has announced that it is looking for 4 volunteers to live in Mars-like conditions for a year, but without leaving Earth. They will be isolated in a 3D-printed replica of the Red Planet located at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.
The mission will be part of NASA’s CHAPEA (Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog) program, which should help develop and evaluate the systems that will be used by the first group of astronauts to set foot on Mars later this decade.
The agency says volunteers will live in a 1,700-square-foot (about 160 sq m) habitat called Mars Dune Alpha, which will simulate the challenges of living on Mars, “including resource limitations, equipment breakdowns, communication delays and more environmental factors”. The crew will undertake field trips and robotic operations, maintain their housing, train and grow plants necessary for survival on the Red Planet.
This is the second such mission out of a total of three planned in the NASA program. The first four selected candidates – two women and two men – entered the simulator in the middle of last year and will leave it this summer. The new mission will begin in the spring of 2025.
The space agency’s requirements are that applicants be US citizens or permanent residents who have a very good command of English to ensure communication within the crew and with other personnel who will participate in the venture. They must be between the ages of 30 and 55 and have a master’s degree in mathematics, physics, biology, engineering and computer science, as well as at least 2 years of professional experience in the field. The other option is that they are pilots with at least 1,000 flight hours. In addition, a great deal of motivation is required to participate in the first group of adventurers who will set foot on Mars.
The selection will last several months to select the most prepared, and the deadline for submitting applications ends on April 2. During the training, the candidates will undergo the tests that all NASA astronauts go through. The agency recalls that through the Artemis campaign, efforts are currently being made to achieve a permanent human presence on the Moon, which will be the basis of future long-distance missions to conquer the Red Planet.