The agency did not specify how much the second one would cost.

It begs the question: Is there money to be made on Mars?

Interplanetary profit

SpaceX has many more years to develop all the technology needed for the settlement of Mars. The company is in the early stages of developing Starship, a large rocket and spacecraft system that Musk hopes will carry cargo and people across a gap of at least 30 million miles between Earth and Mars. Musk estimates that the development of the starship will cost up to $ 10 billion. Musk said he plans to launch hundreds of satellites on the starship before SpaceX takes over human life on August 31.

“It’s not about heart attack,” Musk said. “You have a good chance of dying. It’s hard … If it works, it’s glorious.”

The idea of ​​terraforming came from scientists around ideas, the mayor said, but not from anyone who thinks it is something that humans can or can do.

“It was an exercise,” the mayor said. But there is no oxygen in the atmosphere of Mars. There is an infinitely small amount of water, which means that it is very difficult to grow crops, i.e. create a water cycle across Mars. It is not even clear if Mars has the resources needed to make terraforming possible.

“I think” Total Recall “has the right idea,” he joked. “You need to use some alien technology.”

Musk also acknowledged that terrafarming would be extremely resourceful. The concept is embodied in the SpaceX Lore, so the company sells T-shirts called “New Mars” and “Occupy Mars”.

Musk can be seen wearing one from time to time.

Values ​​and Evaluation

There are no resources on Mars worth enough to mine and resell to real estate businesses, the mayor said. “Part of the reason [scientists are] Interest in Mars – it’s made of the same materials as Earth, ”he told CNN Business.

The idea that Mars could one day become a metropolis if money-making ambitions are put aside – is accepted by mainstream scientists such as Mayer, NASA’s chief Mars expert, as a tourist destination.

The mayor said he attended a presentation on Mars’ business and tourism 20 years ago. “I’m been very skeptical about it … and I’m thinking, ‘Well, [there are] Some very reasonable ideas, ”he said, adding that he was now embracing the idea that businesses could have more access to space travel.

The mayor added that in his mind it was not so If so A trip to Mars could one day be a lucrative venture, though when.

“Ideas could be another possible export for the colonists on Mars,” wrote Subrin, head of the Mars Society, in his 1996 book, The Case for Mars.

Subrin looks to the past to look at the future of humanity.

“Just as the labor shortage in the United States during the colonial and nineteenth centuries created a flood of inventions of Yankee ingenuity, the state of severe labor shortages will also lead to Mars’ ingenuity.”

In a recent interview with CNN Business, Subrin sided with these ideas, arguing that American colonization was effective. Subrin turns back to the colonization of North America as an example of how the colonists on Mars financed their voyage, either by financing their territorial assets or by “indentured slavery”.

“If you say, OK, you have to go to Mars, you want to offer something,” Subrin said. “If you look at Colonial America, a middle class person can liquidate their farm and go to the United States, but the income will give them a one – way ticket. But if you work, all you can do is sell your labor for seven years.

Subrin, who has worked in conservative think tanks but said he was not politically involved, acknowledged that colonialism could go hand in hand with exploitation: “If someone says ‘but there will be no exploitation?’ That’s what people always do to each other. ”

To put it bluntly: the story of American colonialism involves drip slavery and the brutalization and annihilation of many indigenous peoples.

“There are no Native Martians,” Subrin said.

Damien Williams, a PhD student and Virginia Tech teacher who studies the separation of modern technologies, ethics, and societies, warns that our own stories about America and space exploration will miss the important context.

Musk’s use of the word “colonization” denies the long history of exploiting and enslaving Americans and other Western nations. When it comes to colonizing another planet, it is important to pay attention not only to the life forms of microorganisms that may exist on Mars. Without clearly defined goals and agreements, SpaceX’s colony could “create a disputed area,” Williams said.

The values ​​we take with us for space exploration must be front and center, ”he added.

SpaceX did not respond to requests for comment on this story.