Technology
Top scientist says Elon Musk’s plan for Mars colony a ‘dangerous delusion’
ELON Musk’s wild plan to ferry one million people to Mars is a “dangerous delusion” according to a top expert.
The bonkers billionaire wants to build a colony on the Red Planet by 2050.
Musk wants to set up a colony on Mars
Professor Lord Martin Rees, who is Astronomer Royal, says the idea of shipping loads of us to the distant planet is a “dangerous delusion”.
But he said we should cheer on rich private space explorers like Musk who want to take the leap.
“Dealing with climate change and other environmental problems, the Earth is really a doddle compared to making Mars terraformed and inhabitable,” Lord Rees told The Sun.
“We think there will be some crazy adventurers later this century who will go to Mars to build a little colony and maybe some will go with one way trips.
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“We should cheer on that sort of thing but it is an adventure, just as we can admire people who do other crazy stunts and we can admire them, but that should be the future for space exploration.”
In a new book by Lord Rees and Donald Goldsmith the pair’s main point against human space flight is the cost to the taxpayer.
They believe it should be left to billionaires because of the enormous cost.
Instead, we should be aiming to send more robots because it costs considerably less, it’s less risky and they won’t need a return flight to come home.
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“Our point is that for most practical purposes for exploring and for building things in space as robots get better, the case for sending humans at far greater expense gets weaker,” Lord Rees said.
But he still believes human feet will land on Mars eventually.
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“I don’t know how quickly it’ll happen, so I wouldn’t be at all surprised if before the end of the century there are a few intrepid adventurers living on Mars,” he added.
The End of Astronauts: Why Robots Are the Future of Exploration is out now.
Lord Martin Rees, Astronomer Royal
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