[headdie]

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/huge-mars-colony-eyed-spacex-founder-elon-musk-120626263.html

[Luis Dias]

He's just completely crazy and insane.

And I'd love that this planet had more people like him.

[Nuke]

im not sure i 100% agree with his plan though. i think before we start martian colonization i think we need an industrial complex on the moon to extract fuel, water, and manufacture and materials for colonization craft. which i think would be a better investment. it could service satellites, space stations the like because it is probibly cheaper to refuel them from the moon than it would be to launch new ones or refuel from the earth. and of course competition between lunar refuelers and earth refuelers would drive launch and transport technology forward.

once thats out of the way then go to mars. infrastructure then colonization. also we need to get away from chemical rockets for interplanetary craft, get things like vasimr working, and develop better power systems to allow for their continuous operation. this is probibly the nearer term thing too, as vasimr is due for in-space testing in 2015.

[watsisname]

RED MARS TRILOGY IS GO

Somehow I think the idea of any random person being able to pay to be among the first colonists of Mars is a little crazy; should instead be people qualified to do specialized tasks best suited for the mission.  Though I imagine that's for ~80,000 people he plans to send over after its established, not the first few.

[Pred the Penguin]

Book me for a flight!

[The E]

RED MARS TRILOGY IS GO

Personally, I am betting more on Red Faction.

[qazwsx]

I caught him at talk a couple of weeks ago, here's a youtube link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1HZIQliuoA&feature=youtu.be&t=6m

[Mars]

RED MARS TRILOGY IS GO

Personally, I am betting more on Red Faction.

I'm going for Red Faction / Descent. (1, 3)

[Mikes]

Reading the titled... I wondered for a second if it would be a Kickstarter

[Dark_4ce]

For a second I thought it was a plan to stuff your body in a rocket and shoot it at Mars so that your dessicated corpse spills out onto it's surface for all to see...

I'm sure there's some dude out there who'd want to end it that way...

[deathfun]

For a second I thought it was a plan to stuff your body in a rocket and shoot it at Mars so that your dessicated corpse spills out onto it's surface for all to see...

I'm sure there's some dude out there who'd want to end it that way...

*Raises hand*

[Pred the Penguin]

I've always gone for "shot out into space" but that'll do just fine as well...

[karajorma]

I always wonder how people fall for these cheap travel options. Sure say they'll get you to Mars on the cheap. So you whip out your credit card and stick $500, 000 on there thinking to yourself that you got a great deal. All you've done is paid enough to allow them to hit you with all the surcharges. "Want to breath sir? You'll have to pay the oxygen surcharge, mate."

Think you're going to save money on food? I know you all think you're experienced budget travellers but I can tell you no matter how used you are to flying Ryanair, you're not going to survive the 3 year travel time on that packet of crisps you bought in duty free. When the hostess comes past with the trolley, you'll be shelling out for food, just you mark my words.

[Lorric]

Surely you'd be paying out $500,000 to live in one of the worst places (ha, I was about to say worst places on Earth!) available to humanity. Why not just take that money and use it to greatly enhance your quality of life here on Earth?

I could understand visiting Mars, but why live there?

EDIT: Especially the first batch, that's when all kinds of things could go wrong, the first colonists could end up getting wiped out. And you wouldn't know what you were in for, there'd be no one to tell what it's like living on Mars.

[BlueFlames]

All you've done is paid enough to allow them to hit you with all the surcharges. "Want to breath sir? You'll have to pay the oxygen surcharge, mate."

*Sigh*

I could have sworn someone said this in the thread already, but, "Dammit, Cohagen!  Give those people aier!"

[Mongoose]

Surely you'd be paying out $500,000 to live in one of the worst places (ha, I was about to say worst places on Earth!) available to humanity. Why not just take that money and use it to greatly enhance your quality of life here on Earth?

I could understand visiting Mars, but why live there?

EDIT: Especially the first batch, that's when all kinds of things could go wrong, the first colonists could end up getting wiped out. And you wouldn't know what you were in for, there'd be no one to tell what it's like living on Mars.

I was going to say something like, "What if the first North American settlers had this same attitude?", but then I remembered Roanoke, so yeah.

[Lorric]

It's a thought I guess. If he decides to charge for air, what are you going to do? It isn't free anymore. You'd have to keep your bill paid or die.

Surely you'd be paying out $500,000 to live in one of the worst places (ha, I was about to say worst places on Earth!) available to humanity. Why not just take that money and use it to greatly enhance your quality of life here on Earth?

I could understand visiting Mars, but why live there?

EDIT: Especially the first batch, that's when all kinds of things could go wrong, the first colonists could end up getting wiped out. And you wouldn't know what you were in for, there'd be no one to tell what it's like living on Mars.

I was going to say something like, "What if the first North American settlers had this same attitude?", but then I remembered Roanoke, so yeah.

There's a little difference between pure, beautiful, unspoiled land here on Earth, and an environment hostile to all life on Earth.

[watsisname]

Because being among the first to travel and live on another freaking planet is cool.

It's a thought I guess. If he decides to charge for air, what are you going to do? It isn't free anymore. You'd have to keep your bill paid or die.

Hahahaha!  Or you could just, I dunno, have them create their own O2 via chemical processes with raw materials available on Mars.  But that would make too much sense, better to send people to another planet and then make them continue to pay you to stay alive.  Because that makes perfect sense.  Right?

[Lorric]

Because being among the first to travel and live on another freaking planet is cool.

It's a thought I guess. If he decides to charge for air, what are you going to do? It isn't free anymore. You'd have to keep your bill paid or die.

Hahahaha!  Or you could just, I dunno, have them create their own O2 via chemical processes with raw materials available on Mars.  But that would make too much sense, better to send people to another planet and then make them continue to pay you to stay alive.  Because that makes perfect sense.  Right?

It's not enough. Are you going to stake your life and $500,000 on it? And the real first people to set foot on Mars will already have got there, setting the place up.



It makes sense if you want to make money. It's a drug dealer's dream! You're not going to be able to lose the addiction on that one.

[deathfun]

I'll go to Mars to look for a living, to keep my head down. Staying out of trouble would be nice too. Most likely I'll find something I was counting on finding after Mars gives me a new home. The dream of a new world is enough to justify the cost

That is of course after I **** up all the **** on Earth, and bug out to Mars. Why leave a place before you've got nothing left to lose on it?