Elon Musk Wants to Build a Colony of 80,000 on Mars
Barkha Herman ·
November 27, 2012 at 8:48pm
For those who don't know him, Elon Musk is the real life equivalent of Iron Man. He is the CEO of SpaceX, the first private company to deliver cargo to the international space station. And now he's thinking even bigger:
Elon Musk doesn’t just want to send a person to Mars — he wants to send 80,000. According to Space.com, the billionaire founder and CEO of the private spaceflight company SpaceX spilled details about his hopes for a future Mars colony during a talk at the Royal Aeronautical Society in London on Nov. 16.
So, who's ready to go?
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Comments:
May '12
Re: Elon Musk Wants to Build a Colony of 80,000 on Mars
Calling SpaceX a 'private spaceflight company' is a bit of a stretch. That is about like calling the U.S. Army a private security firm.
I have no doubt Elon Musk would like to do a lot of things with U.S. taxpayer's money.
Nov '11
Re: Elon Musk Wants to Build a Colony of 80,000 on Mars
YEAH!
It's about damn time.
Leaving the future of humanity to governments gave us the moon landing and then four decades of utter waste and no progress.
Leave it to private industry and individual entrepreneurs and visionaries to do what governments cannot do.
Edited on November 27, 2012 at 8:29pmAug '10
Re: Elon Musk Wants to Build a Colony of 80,000 on Mars
How will this Martian town be governed?
I'm guessin' individual liberty won't be high on the list of priorities, so you won't be allowed to operate your own food truck in peace.
Jul '11
Re: Elon Musk Wants to Build a Colony of 80,000 on Mars
BrentB67: Calling SpaceX a 'private spaceflight company' is a bit of a stretch. That is about like calling the U.S. Army a private security firm.
I have no doubt Elon Musk would like to do a lot of things with U.S. taxpayer's money. · 4 minutes ago
Brent - I would rather Elon Musk run the government subsidized space business than NASA. Ditto for other US taxpayer money.
But that's neither here no there. For the record, Paypal did not get any federal subsidy, and it changed internet commerce in a huge way.
Jul '11
Re: Elon Musk Wants to Build a Colony of 80,000 on Mars
Misthiocracy: How will this Martian town be governed?
I'm guessin' individual liberty won't be high on the list of priorities, so you won't be allowed to operate your own food truck in peace. · 2 minutes ago
Yep. Clearly, the next logical questions are: Is abortion legal on Mars and Are homosexual marriages allowed?
That is exactly what I got out of that bit of news. (Not!)
Frontiers tend to allow for experimentation. I am sure the 80,000 will include either the adventurous or the desperate. Both promote change.
Oct '10
Re: Elon Musk Wants to Build a Colony of 80,000 on Mars
Elon Musk...hold on to your wallet.
Apr '12
Re: Elon Musk Wants to Build a Colony of 80,000 on Mars
I hear they have hot babes on Mars.
Nov '11
Re: Elon Musk Wants to Build a Colony of 80,000 on Mars
Barkha Herman
Misthiocracy: How will this Martian town be governed?
I'm guessin' individual liberty won't be high on the list of priorities, so you won't be allowed to operate your own food truck in peace. · 2 minutes ago
Yep. Clearly, the next logical questions are: Is abortion legal on Mars and Are homosexual marriages allowed?
That is exactly what I got out of that bit of news. (Not!)
Frontiers tend to allow for experimentation. I am sure the 80,000 will include either the adventurous or the desperate. Both promote change. · 7 minutes ago
Their society will be just fine just as long as they avoid the terrible scourge of marijuana.
Apr '11
Re: Elon Musk Wants to Build a Colony of 80,000 on Mars
Actually, they are actively recruiting female colonists. It seems they have a problem there.
Aug '10
Re: Elon Musk Wants to Build a Colony of 80,000 on Mars
Barkha Herman
Misthiocracy: How will this Martian town be governed?
I'm guessin' individual liberty won't be high on the list of priorities, so you won't be allowed to operate your own food truck in peace. · 2 minutes ago
Yep. Clearly, the next logical questions are: Is abortion legal on Mars and Are homosexual marriages allowed?
That is exactly what I got out of that bit of news. (Not!)
Frontiers tend to allow for experimentation. I am sure the 80,000 will include either the adventurous or the desperate. Both promote change. · 11 minutes ago
I think you miss my point. This will be, by necessity, a centrally-controlled society. On Mars, there is no "voting with your feet" unless you can breath the Martian atmosphere. What does a colonist do when they get tired of having their life regulated by the corporate master? They can't simply build a new house a few blocks down the road. The whole exercise feels like a central planner's dream.
Aug '10
Re: Elon Musk Wants to Build a Colony of 80,000 on Mars
Fred Cole
Barkha Herman
Misthiocracy: How will this Martian town be governed?
I'm guessin' individual liberty won't be high on the list of priorities, so you won't be allowed to operate your own food truck in peace. · 2 minutes ago
Yep. Clearly, the next logical questions are: Is abortion legal on Mars and Are homosexual marriages allowed?
That is exactly what I got out of that bit of news. (Not!)
Frontiers tend to allow for experimentation. I am sure the 80,000 will include either the adventurous or the desperate. Both promote change. · 7 minutes ago
Their society will be just fine just as long as they avoid the terrible scourge of marijuana.
You joke, but presumably any form of smoking will be strictly prohibited if everybody lives in a pressurized environment.
As for psychotropic drugs, if they are deemed by the corporation to be a danger to the survival of the colony...
Jul '11
Re: Elon Musk Wants to Build a Colony of 80,000 on Mars
Do they need private physicians with a tattoo that says Born To Kick Ass on his right bicep?
Jul '11
Re: Elon Musk Wants to Build a Colony of 80,000 on Mars
Not at all. It's unlikely that anyone will kill one of the 80,000 that were brought over. Human life would be at a premium. "Control" from earth is as unlikely as "voting with your feet". It is more likely that the society that evolves there is free-er than here. Bureaucracies like largess.
But it is clear that I see opportunity where you see need for caution. Chalk it to a difference of personality.
The point is that this is the first step towards developing new frontiers. Perhaps Mars will be the communist colony; however we will have learnt how to settle planets. To me that sounds like a step towards a possibility of new colonies, some of which will be free-er than others.
Jul '11
Re: Elon Musk Wants to Build a Colony of 80,000 on Mars
I have it on good authority that they do.
Jul '11
Re: Elon Musk Wants to Build a Colony of 80,000 on Mars
C. U. Douglas
Actually, they are actively recruiting female colonists. It seems they have a problem there. · 12 minutes ago
Perhaps there is hope for my polyandrous society after all :-D.
Dec '10
Re: Elon Musk Wants to Build a Colony of 80,000 on Mars
Barkha Herman
BrentB67: Calling SpaceX a 'private spaceflight company' is a bit of a stretch. That is about like calling the U.S. Army a private security firm.
I have no doubt Elon Musk would like to do a lot of things with U.S. taxpayer's money. · 4 minutes ago
Brent - I would rather Elon Musk run the government subsidized space business than NASA. Ditto for other US taxpayer money.
But that's neither here no there. For the record, Paypal did not get any federal subsidy, and it changed internet commerce in a huge way. · 31 minutes ago
Fred Smith got a C on his college paper outlining the FedEx business model ... the professor thought it was unrealistic. So Fred financed part of FedEx's payroll the old fashioned way ... a trip to Las Vegas ...
Jan '12
Re: Elon Musk Wants to Build a Colony of 80,000 on Mars
What a great idea. Who are the 80,000 socialists we can send? I suggest it is called New Harmony.
Aug '10
Re: Elon Musk Wants to Build a Colony of 80,000 on Mars
I'm guessing that you wouldn't be allowed to set your own fee schedule.
This is like allowing NASA to run your municipality.
Apr '12
Re: Elon Musk Wants to Build a Colony of 80,000 on Mars
It would never work. How many women want to be picking up after two or more men?
Nov '11
Re: Elon Musk Wants to Build a Colony of 80,000 on Mars
I'll take second wave colonization, after the initial central planning phase gives way to the wildcat mentality.