Elon Musk's Mars vision: Turn sci-fi into reality with Mars colonisation

Billionaire Elon Musk's Martian dreams stir awe and skepticism alike, as humanity weighs the allure of a new frontier against the tough realities of space colonisation

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The recently-concluded multi-billion-dollar wedding hosted by the Ambani family in Mumbai stands as an example of extravagant billionaire behaviour, showcasing their trendsetting and influential lifestyle.

There’s another billionaire from across the continent with ingenious and often bizarre ideas, but not quite a trendsetter at all times.

We are talking about Elon Musk. While his work with SpaceX is groundbreaking, it often strays from conventional trends, offering concepts that are as outlandish as they are innovative.

A recent report by The New York Times said, Musk, 53, has instructed SpaceX employees to thoroughly explore the design and intricacies of a Martian city.

While Musk had clarified saying, “No one at SpaceX has been directed to work on a Mars city,” the very prospect of Martian escapade is like turning our wildest dreams of science fiction into reality.

A vision of life in Martian domes

A Martian escapade would include building a small dome habitat, comprising the materials which could be used to build them. Alongside, spacesuits are being made to combat Mars’s hostile environment.

Life on Mars would be a pivotal leap for humanity and could find answers to some of the compelling questions: What if Mars holds cues to the origin of life? What if Mars determines the fate of our planet?

The initiatives, which are still in their infancy, are set to observe a somewhat concrete plan for life on the Red Planet as Musk’s timeline has hastened. So, what’s the best and worst-case scenario for when humans set foot on Mars? With Musk’s ambitious plan to inhabit around a million people on Mars in the next 20 years, it does not seem like a far cry from reality. However, making the planet thrive as a self-sustaining civilization with no or little dependence on Earth might take longer.

Overcoming Mars’ life-sustaining challenges

The space enthusiast also plans to detonate a nuclear weapon on Mars. The idea is to vaporize Mars’ ice caps providing water vapour, carbon monoxide, and greenhouse gases which would result in warming of the planet for life to sustain on Mars.

Sustaining life on Mars poses significant challenges: its thin, carbon dioxide-rich atmosphere requires enclosed habitats or atmospheric modification, the geodesic domes shall do its work. Growing food would likely rely on controlled environments like hydroponics. Mars’ lack of a strong magnetic field exposes its surface to high radiation levels, necessitating protective measures. Extreme temperature fluctuations also require insulated habitats. It’s colder on Mars than on parts of Earth any day of the year. Solar power is likely the primary energy source due to Mars' distance from the Sun. Overcoming these hurdles requires advanced technology and careful planning by Musk’s organisation, SpaceX and NASA.

To colonise or not to colonise Mars

Despite the hurdles, life on Mars seems like a possibility. But the question is, do people really want to leave Earth? Homosapiens tendency to cling to a comfortable space that is familiar to them might be an incumbent. The billions of fiscal expenditure is another question altogether. The expenditure for the terraforming program is ridiculously expensive and can strain the sources of a wholly united Earth, let alone being at an individual’s ambit.

No human has lived in space for more than 437 days in a row. Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov holds the record for the most days spent in space in one go. The procreation of a Martian Land would entail its own array of problems. Due diligence in good time might hold relevance here as well, one can never tell.