6 ms·

Without extreme religious persecution at home or the prospect of being extremely wealthy "abroad", will there be that many people interested in going to Mars?

by fovc 10y ago

jrv 10y ago
In the end, you just need to be able to find enough people who want to go (there are plenty) and who have the money to pay for the trip (Elon hopes to bring down the cost to such a level that someone selling their home on Earth could afford it in many cases - like $500,000 to move to Mars).
- copx 10y ago
  $500,000, or even four times that amount is nothing in our current economy. Remember how crowdfunding raised over 100 million dollars for Star Citizen - a video game! I am amazed Musk or even NASA itself has not tried crowdfunding the colonization of Mars..
  - thu 10y ago
    Have you heard about Mars One ?
jessriedel 10y ago
No. Unless Musk has a stupendous trick up his sleeve, this is a unavoidable problem with the whole enterprise. Hard as settling in the new world was, it was tremendously easier (even at the time) to settling on Mars. The best chance for a Mars colony would be an extractable resource that makes it economically sensible to support a non-self-sufficient outpost (i.e., try to become Edmonton, Canada). But there's nothing analogous to oil. The most promising natural resources in space are asteroids.
- gus_massa 10y ago
  He wants to go to Mars, so they have at least one rich client that want to pay for the (one way) trip. I'm not sure about the business plan after that, but he has a good track record, so I wouldn't bet against him.
  - jessriedel 10y ago
    I'm a pretty big Musk fanboy, but I'd bet against him. Walt Disney had a good track record too, but he was another billionaire who couldn't will away human nature in order to create a utopia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EPCOT_(concept) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EPCOT_(concept)
kjcharles 10y ago
If you look at how many signed up for Mars One that shouldn't be a problem.
- gliptic 10y ago
  Which was 4227 people (http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/mars-one-admits-it-has-only-received-4227-completed-applications-not-200000-1504392 http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/mars-one-admits-it-has-only-receive...). I would hope that is because few believed Mars One was a viable venture. Musk's vision should be much more convincing.
deleted 10y ago
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Without extreme religious persecution at home or the prospect of being extremely wealthy "abroad", will there be that many people interested in going to Mars?

by fovc 10y ago

Without extreme religious persecution at home or the prospect of being extremely wealthy "abroad", will there be that many people interested in going to Mars?

jrv 10y ago

In the end, you just need to be able to find enough people who want to go (there are plenty) and who have the money to pay for the trip (Elon hopes to bring down the cost to such a level that someone selling their home on Earth could afford it in many cases - like $500,000 to move to Mars).

copx 10y ago
$500,000, or even four times that amount is nothing in our current economy. Remember how crowdfunding raised over 100 million dollars for Star Citizen - a video game! I am amazed Musk or even NASA itself has not tried crowdfunding the colonization of Mars..
- thu 10y ago
  Have you heard about Mars One ?

jessriedel 10y ago

No. Unless Musk has a stupendous trick up his sleeve, this is a unavoidable problem with the whole enterprise. Hard as settling in the new world was, it was tremendously easier (even at the time) to settling on Mars. The best chance for a Mars colony would be an extractable resource that makes it economically sensible to support a non-self-sufficient outpost (i.e., try to become Edmonton, Canada). But there's nothing analogous to oil. The most promising natural resources in space are asteroids.

gus_massa 10y ago
He wants to go to Mars, so they have at least one rich client that want to pay for the (one way) trip. I'm not sure about the business plan after that, but he has a good track record, so I wouldn't bet against him.
- jessriedel 10y ago
  I'm a pretty big Musk fanboy, but I'd bet against him. Walt Disney had a good track record too, but he was another billionaire who couldn't will away human nature in order to create a utopia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EPCOT_(concept) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EPCOT_(concept)

kjcharles 10y ago

If you look at how many signed up for Mars One that shouldn't be a problem.

gliptic 10y ago
Which was 4227 people (http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/mars-one-admits-it-has-only-received-4227-completed-applications-not-200000-1504392 http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/mars-one-admits-it-has-only-receive...). I would hope that is because few believed Mars One was a viable venture. Musk's vision should be much more convincing.

deleted 10y ago

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