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    Elon Musk (SpaceX/Tesla Motors) Planning Colony on Mars

    Elon Musk, the entrepreneur behind the Tesla Motors electric car company and countless other ventures, wants to expand his presence in space. Musk plans to extend his SpaceX company, a company that hopes to put private citizens in space, to build a colony on Mars. The colony would house 80,000 inhabitants, and Musk hopes that he will be able to transport visitors to the colony for $500,000 a person.

    Transports of visitors would be initially be limited to 10 people or less, and they would ride to the Red Planet on reusable rockets. The colony itself would be covered with transparent domes, which can be pressurized and possibly support the growth of crops.

    If this all sounds like science fiction, it's because it's not far off from it at this point. The total project is expected to cost roughly $36 billion, and Musk is a long ways off from breaking ground on it. The entrepreneur hopes to put people on Mars within the next 12 to 15 years, but for now, a Mars colony is still in the realm of creative science fiction writers.
    Source: http://www.theverge.com/2012/11/27/3...ny-cost-500000

    Lecture on related on future of Energy and Transport:


    What are you're thoughts on this? Good/bad?

  2. #2
    Merely a Setback Reeve's Avatar
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    Hmmm, I'm curious how this will work out with the regulatory authorities. There's a lot of concern in the scientific community about contamination, for example.
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  3. #3
    It sounds crazy but the weird thing is that every time Elon Musk says he wants to do something, it somehow gets done. I remember reading an article when SpaceX was just a rumor and everyone thought that a private company overtaking NASAs launches would be impossible. This guy has a gift of having a vision of somehow pulling through with it.

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    When private company's get into stuff, shits going to happen, because there may be money in it
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    Merely a Setback Reeve's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Torethyr View Post
    It sounds crazy but the weird thing is that every time Elon Musk says he wants to do something, it somehow gets done. I remember reading an article when SpaceX was just a rumor and everyone thought that a private company overtaking NASAs launches would be impossible. This guy has a gift of having a vision of somehow pulling through with it.
    It helps that he now has the reputation of being a guy who gets these things done. Really helps funding.

    Haha, maybe he should start a kickstarter campaign with the goal of $38 billion and see what happens!
    'Twas a cutlass swipe or an ounce of lead
    Or a yawing hole in a battered head
    And the scuppers clogged with rotting red
    And there they lay I damn me eyes
    All lookouts clapped on Paradise
    All souls bound just contrarywise, yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!

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    Whatever his reputation might be. I just don't see a colony on Mars for decades. If not centuries. Still, I wish him all the luck in the world. We need to start getting off this rock on a more permanent basis.
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    Merely a Setback Reeve's Avatar
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    Yeah, as impossible as it sounds, I'm sure establishing colonies across the Atlantic from Europe seemed impossible once upon a time too, and the first colonies had some real difficulties in surviving. I'm sure Mars will be the same way.
    'Twas a cutlass swipe or an ounce of lead
    Or a yawing hole in a battered head
    And the scuppers clogged with rotting red
    And there they lay I damn me eyes
    All lookouts clapped on Paradise
    All souls bound just contrarywise, yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!

  8. #8
    Long over due. I wish him the best of luck. I hope he goes there and discovers a gold mine the size of Texas and becomes a trillionaire. Long over due and governments are fucking useless in ever hoping to accomplish this.

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by SirRobin View Post
    Whatever his reputation might be. I just don't see a colony on Mars for decades. If not centuries. Still, I wish him all the luck in the world. We need to start getting off this rock on a more permanent basis.
    Mars one is sending people starting in about 10 years, next year they are taking applications for volunteers.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Puremallace View Post
    Long over due. I wish him the best of luck. I hope he goes there and discovers a gold mine the size of Texas and becomes a trillionaire. Long over due and governments are fucking useless in ever hoping to accomplish this.
    The cost of shipping the gold back to Earth would probably be greater than the value of the gold. I do hope they work out how to make this happen. A colony of 80,000 people strikes me as something that could eventually become self-sufficient.
    'Twas a cutlass swipe or an ounce of lead
    Or a yawing hole in a battered head
    And the scuppers clogged with rotting red
    And there they lay I damn me eyes
    All lookouts clapped on Paradise
    All souls bound just contrarywise, yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!

  11. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by Reeve View Post
    The cost of shipping the gold back to Earth would probably be greater than the value of the gold. I do hope they work out how to make this happen. A colony of 80,000 people strikes me as something that could eventually become self-sufficient.
    i dont think he meant actual gold.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Theodarzna View Post
    I'm calling it, Republicans will hold congress in 2018 and Trump will win again in 2020.

  12. #12
    i cant express how intrigued i am by this, especially when being proposed by someone with the drive, initiative, ingenuity, and ability this guy has. im hoping this is the push we needed to take the next step.

    just as interesting is the legalities involved. who owns what? how would they enforce it? it is certain to be an issue down the road, though probably not for a while

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    Quote Originally Posted by Gamdwelf View Post
    i dont think he meant actual gold.
    Almost any material, really though.
    'Twas a cutlass swipe or an ounce of lead
    Or a yawing hole in a battered head
    And the scuppers clogged with rotting red
    And there they lay I damn me eyes
    All lookouts clapped on Paradise
    All souls bound just contrarywise, yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!

  14. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by smelltheglove View Post
    i cant express how intrigued i am by this, especially when being proposed by someone with the drive, initiative, ingenuity, and ability this guy has. im hoping this is the push we needed to take the next step.

    just as interesting is the legalities involved. who owns what? how would they enforce it? it is certain to be an issue down the road, though probably not for a while
    the mars police which havent been formed yet.
    Gamdwelf the Mage

    Quote Originally Posted by Theodarzna View Post
    I'm calling it, Republicans will hold congress in 2018 and Trump will win again in 2020.

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by smelltheglove View Post
    i cant express how intrigued i am by this, especially when being proposed by someone with the drive, initiative, ingenuity, and ability this guy has. im hoping this is the push we needed to take the next step.

    just as interesting is the legalities involved. who owns what? how would they enforce it? it is certain to be an issue down the road, though probably not for a while
    I think if the world is smart, they'll let the Martians (those who choose to live on Mars) sort that out for themselves this time around. It'd be a Libertarian's dream come true.
    'Twas a cutlass swipe or an ounce of lead
    Or a yawing hole in a battered head
    And the scuppers clogged with rotting red
    And there they lay I damn me eyes
    All lookouts clapped on Paradise
    All souls bound just contrarywise, yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!

  16. #16
    Quote Originally Posted by Gamdwelf View Post
    the mars police which havent been formed yet.
    will they let prostitution be legal? whores with 3 boobs pwn, lol. i guess it's up to president kuato

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    I respect this guys ability to get things done. I've wanted a Tesla for years and I'm impressed with the progress of SpaceX. I don't know how realistic the timeline is, but I admire that he's trying. The more people that get involved with projects like this, the better. I am a bit concerned about contamination though.

  18. #18
    Quote Originally Posted by Reeve View Post
    I think if the world is smart, they'll let the Martians (those who choose to live on Mars) sort that out for themselves this time around. It'd be a Libertarian's dream come true.
    i suspect that someone will start penis-waving and try to claim dominion. dont know who, but at least one country will try. and of course there will be resistance, which i think will succeed

  19. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by smelltheglove View Post
    i suspect that someone will start penis-waving and try to claim dominion. dont know who, but at least one country will try. and of course there will be resistance, which i think will succeed
    I can imagine lots of countries will claim stuff, but never act on those claims. Like a bunch of countries claim contradictory parts of Antarctica, but no one acts on it.
    'Twas a cutlass swipe or an ounce of lead
    Or a yawing hole in a battered head
    And the scuppers clogged with rotting red
    And there they lay I damn me eyes
    All lookouts clapped on Paradise
    All souls bound just contrarywise, yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!

  20. #20
    Quote Originally Posted by Reeve View Post
    I can imagine lots of countries will claim stuff, but never act on those claims. Like a bunch of countries claim contradictory parts of Antarctica, but no one acts on it.
    I think chile is about the only one, because it is right south of their country, like on all images of chile in their country includes their part of antartica.
    Gamdwelf the Mage

    Quote Originally Posted by Theodarzna View Post
    I'm calling it, Republicans will hold congress in 2018 and Trump will win again in 2020.

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