In their most ambitious venture ever, Google and Virgin have announced their partnership – Virgle – to colonise Mars. According to the Google website here,
“Earth has issues, and it’s time humanity got started on a Plan B. So, starting in 2014, Virgin founder Richard Branson and Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin will be leading hundreds of users on one of the grandest adventures in human history: Project Virgle, the first permanent human colony on Mars.”
This is quite an ambitious plan and no doubt fraught with practical difficulties. But who better to take on this endeavour than Virgin (already in advanced plans with Virgin Galactic) and Google, er.. our favorite internet search company.
Indeed, according to Wikipedia, colonisation in the future might be difficult, but not impossible:
- The Martian day (or sol) is very close to Earth’s. A Mars solar day is 24 hours 39 minutes 35.244 seconds.
- Mars has a surface area that is 28.4% of Earth’s, only slightly less than the amount of dry land on Earth (which is 29.2% of Earth’s surface). Mars has half the radius of Earth and only one-tenth the mass, being less dense.
- Mars has an axial tilt of 25.19°, compared with Earth’s 23.44°. As a result, Mars has seasons much like Earth, though they last nearly twice as long because the Martian year is about 1.88 Earth years.
- Mars has an atmosphere. While very thin (about 0.7% of Earth’s Atmosphere), it provides some protection from solar and cosmic radiation and has been used successfully for aerobraking of spacecraft.
Recent observations by NASA’s Mars Exploration Rovers and ESA’s Mars Express confirm the presence of water on Mars. Mars appears to have significant quantities of all the elements necessary to support Terran-based life.
This certainly isn’t an original ambition. George Bush announced his intentions to do do exactly the same thing in 2004, the only question is who will get there first? For more information visit the Virgle website here, where the Google founders relate their intentions on a Youtube video and you can watch Richard Branson’s here
You can even sign up for the program by answering a questionnaire on their site, providing you aren’t too busy playing April Fools jokes on your co-workers that is.
