Elon Musk: 'We must get to Mars before World War Three kicks off

[Tom Abbott]

Found at:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3359076/We-Mars-World-War-Three-kicks-Elon-Musk-warns-religious-extremism-nuclear-attacks-prevent-landing-red-planet.html


'We must get to Mars before World War Three kicks off:' Elon Musk
warns religious extremism and nuclear attacks will prevent us landing
on the red planet

By Richard Gray for MailOnline

Published: 05:42 EST, 14 December 2015


Mankind may only have a brief window to set foot on Mars before a
disaster such as a third World War makes it no longer possible, Elon
Musk has warned.

The founder of SpaceX, which was the first private company to resupply
the International Space Station, fears such a war could set back
technological advancements.

His company is preparing to announce its ambitious plans for rocket
and spacecraft technology to carry humans to the red planet.

Musk believes it may be possible to send the first humans to Mars
within the next 10 to 15 years.

Speaking in an interview with GQ, he said such a mission may be
important to help ensure the long term survival of mankind.

In particular, he believes a Martian colony could help to ensure
humanity survives if there is ever a calamity on Earth that destroys
life here.

'You back up your hard drive.... Maybe we should back up life, too?'
he said.

However, Musk, 44, who co-founded PayPal, insisted it was important
for mankind to seize the opportunity to visit Mars while there is
currently the technology and the impetus.

end excerpt



If you want to ensure the longterm survival of humanity, you should
not plan on using Mars in the nearterm.

What you need to do is find yourself an asteriod about two or three
miles in diameter and about six miles long. Hollow this asteriod out,
and give it a spin of approximatly one revolution per minute, the same
speed as the second hand on a clock moves. Imagine yourself sitting
on the end of that second hand. That's how fast you would be moving
inside the habitat, although the motion would barely be detectable, if
at all.

What this spin will do is create "artificial gravity" on the inside
of the hollowed-out tube equivalent to the gravity on the surface of
the Earth. Standing on the inside, you would weigh the same as you do
on Earth.

This hollowed-out asteriod would provide enough room for *millions*
of people to live, where they would have Earth-equivalent gravity, and
the asteriod's outer shell would protect the inhabitants from the
always-present radiation in space. The hollowed-out habitat would
provide two of the most vital requirements for human life in space:
Earth gravity, so muscles stay strong; and radiation protection.

On Mars, you are exposed to radiation all the time, and the lower
gravity will adversely affect human health. And Mars is *much* more
difficult and costly to visit than would be an asteriod. The asteriod
could even be moved close to Earth, if that were desireable, to make
it even more easy to get to.

Mars is a romantic place, but there are much easier places to
establish humanity in space than Mars. Asteriods are the way to go.
Asteriods are the next real estate boom.

Human beings can cross from one star to another using asteriods as
stepping stones, if given enough time.

I love that these billionaires are spending their money on
developing space. It's just what they should be doing.

We do have a narrow widow of opportunity to insure humanity's
survival, and we need to take advantage of it. The next killer
asteriod may be heading our way soon.

We need to put ourselves in a position so we can either deflect such
an object or survive its impact by not having all humans living on
Earth. All the developments these billionaires are paying for will
help humanity in this task. God Speed to them.


TA