Elon Musk goes Off the Rails

[anonymgeist]

And to make any sort of meaningful difference on Earth, how many people would the colonies need to support? Never mind the logistics of actually transporting the people there.

[pyrhic]

@Timex

But even beyond all that, simply moving beyond the Earth for access to more natural resources seems to be a necessity in the near future, just based on the slope of humanity’s population curve.

Of course, many of those resources we particularly covet are those created by living creatures that died long ago, so we’re probably not going to find that anywhere soon and certainly not anywhere close…

[pyrhic]

@jsnell

(Genuine question: I’ve never read anything first hand on what his motives are.)

dibs on breeding colony

[RichVR]

I was under the impression that Musk’s Mars talk was about just getting a crew there and back. I didn’t think that he was planning on a permanent base any time soon.

[scottagibson]

@jsnell

I mean, Musk is an idiot and all, but “Musk is an idiot and an idiot could plausibly believe this” seems a bit weak. Has he e.g. at some point made some kind of statement that implies he is in it for the personal survival? (Genuine question: I’ve never read anything first hand on what his motives are.)

I think most people, in their gut, fundamentally believe they will live forever, because they can’t grasp their own nonexistence. Only the aging process dents that belief, and only a bit.

I think incredibly wealthy people like Musk and Thiel add to that the belief at some level that they can buy immortality, because they can buy everything else. Certainly Thiel is said to be deeply invested in geriatric technology in search of ways to halt or slow the aging process.

I think there was a time when Elon believed he would walk on Mars. He may not fully believe that now, but denial is a pretty strong force, and I doubt he has fully internalized it.

[scottagibson]

@RichVR

I was under the impression that Musk’s Mars talk was about just getting a crew there and back. I didn’t think that he was planning on a permanent base any time soon.

Huge Mars Colony Eyed by SpaceX Founder Elon Musk

[vinraith]

Galt’s Martian Gulch.

[RichVR]

That’s a ten year old article. What has he said since? Never mind. Don’t waste you time looking for it. I can do it myself. Thanks for the reply though.

[scottagibson]

@RichVR

That’s a ten year old article. What has he said since?

I’m not sure why the age of the article matters? I think this is Elon’s dream. He may be coming to realize that he won’t be part of it, assuming it happens, but I believe he thought he would be when he started down this path.

[MelesMeles]

Thanks for the insight @LeeAbe. It makes a lot more sense to me now.

@scottagibson

It’s his board, isn’t it? Largely chosen by him, and including his brother?

They could also be afraid of his cutting wit. He might post a tweet calling them “Mister stupid guy” or something. They would never recover.

[Mark_Asher]

@scottagibson

I think incredibly wealthy people like Musk and Thiel add to that the belief at some level that they can buy immortality, because they can buy everything else. Certainly Thiel is said to be deeply invested in geriatric technology in search of ways to halt or slow the aging process.

I read somewhere recently that Thiel expects to live to be 125. Many of these ultra rich techbros are investing in life-extending research. They are not doing it as a benefit to humanity.

Back to the idea of getting off planet earth, I think the idea isn’t that we can do this soon in any reasonable fashion, but that it needs to be a long-term goal because sooner or later there’s a likely extinction event. We could be talking hundreds of years of more technological development before it becomes feasible to live elsewhere.

[Houngan]

As we discussed before, barring some insane jump in fusion, the moon is probably more habitable than Mars in the next century. You’re still going to have to truck in 95 percent of everything, might as well be a shorter trip with lots more solar available.

[vinraith]

@Houngan

As we discussed before, barring some insane jump in fusion, the moon is probably more habitable than Mars in the next century. You’re still going to have to truck in 95 percent of everything, might as well be a shorter trip with lots more solar available.

Yeah, Mars offers nothing to compensate for the added time/expense/delta-v.

[scottagibson]

Yeah, if you’re going to live in a can and be supplied from outside, better that the can is closer to the supply.

[Houngan]

Yep, it’s what, 3 days to the moon all the time, vs. 60 to Mars at best, and if the supplies are running low and you miss the window, hoo boy.

[Timex]

I have to say, I’m kind of amused by the proposition that rich people are gonna fly to mars and somehow leave the rest of humanity to die.

[Woolen_Horde]

@Houngan

As we discussed before, barring some insane jump in fusion, the moon is probably more habitable than Mars in the next century. You’re still going to have to truck in 95 percent of everything, might as well be a shorter trip with lots more solar available.

Isn’t moon dust the massive problem? The problem is that shit is insanely abrasive because, unlike Earth, there has been no erosion on the moon for billions of years. That shit shredded space suits, and god knows what prolonged exposure will do to human lungs. And it’s everywhere and unavoidable.

[abrandt]

That’s why you take Matt Damon along so you can always fall back on growing potatoes in his poop.

@Woolen_Horde

Isn’t moon dust the massive problem? The problem is that shit is insanely abrasive because, unlike Earth, there has been no erosion on the moon for billions of years. That shit shredded space suits, and god knows what prolonged exposure will do to human lungs. And it’s everywhere and unavoidable.

Mars is going to have a dust problem too, although not quite as bad. It is more eroded for sure, but you also have it blowing everywhere. The perchlorates in the soil will be an added wrinkle, though.

[vinraith]

@Woolen_Horde

Isn’t moon dust the massive problem? The problem is that shit is insanely abrasive because, unlike Earth, there has been no erosion on the moon for billions of years. That shit shredded space suits, and god knows what prolonged exposure will do to human lungs. And it’s everywhere and unavoidable.

I’m trying to figure out under what circumstances a person would end up breathing moon dust.

[RichVR]

When the astronaut enters a pressurized area he will have dust on his spacesuit. It was an issue for Apollo astronauts.