According to theoretical Physicist and futurist Dr. Michio Kaku, the Astrophysicist Carl Sagan can now pass the baton to Elon Musk as he revives the former's dream of colonising a star.
But now the SpaceX CEO Elon musk has taken the dream a notch higher, as he pledges to expand humanity into the solar system by bringing humans to Mars. That being said, the South African Billionaire tries to extract all means to make Mars a liveable planet.
Musk reveals in an interview via Express Co that the cost of the endeavor is indeed astronomical. For the time being, SpaceX is allocating resources to develop Starship, the interplanetary vehicle that is expected to land on planet Mars.
See more: Elon Musk Confident That Humans Will Land in Mars in 4 to 6 Years, Living in Glass Domes
Elon Musk Relives Dr. Sagan's Philosophy at Just the Right Time
As stated a while ago, Musk echoes the vision of the late Dr. Sagan who passed away last 1996. He believed that humans should find means to leave the Earth at some point in time since dangers and risks aren't decreasing in the planet. For the record, Earth has gone through at least five major extinctions, which should be alarming enough. According to the late astronomer, "The probability that the Earth will be hit by a civilization-threatening small world in the next century is a little less than one in a thousand...The probability of dying on a random commercial airline flight is one-in-two million."
This is why theoretical physicist and professor at The City College of New York Michio Kaku believes Musk can put forward this dream in a more realistic and innovative fashion. Dr. Kaku believes Musk has brought this dream at just the right time, where more pressing issues have already been faced by humanity, as compared to that in 1996.
For instance Musk said on 2019 that "a big rock will hit Earth eventually", and that there are no adequate defense mechanisms for humans on Earth.
Dr Kaku said in an interview via Big Think that : "As an insurance policy, we have to make sure that humans become a two-planet species. These are the words of Carl Sagan."
"And now, of course, Elon Musk has revived this vision by talking about a multi-planet species...He wants to put up to a million colonists in Mars sent to Mars by his rockets financed by a combination of public and private funding, including fusion rockets, ramjet fusion rockets, including anti-matter rockets.", he adds.
How Elon Musk Can Succeed on His Mars Mission
According to Dr, Kaku, many challenges will be faced before even a secure path shows up for this endeavor. One huge challenge is the undeniably massive cost that it takes.
Accoriding to him, it is more efficient to send robots to Mars and utilize resources already present in the planet to build shelters and habitats for humans.
He says, "With one self-replicating robot, you get two, then four, then eight, 16, 32, 64, until you have an army of these robots that can build cities on Mars."
Lastly he puts a striking note: "that's why I say given the fact that Mother Nature and the laws of physics have a death warrant for humanity that ultimately our destiny will be in outer space."
It is evident that Dr. Kaku has great faith in Musk's mission as he highlights the urgency of how Dr. Sagan's philosophies need to be applied practically right at this very age. Although threats to human life on Earth may not be as evident for other people, Dr. Kaku believes that ample preparation before any big crisis or extinction may happen will save humanity from future destruction.
See related article: SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket Launch 2021: First Flight of the Year on Thursday, Here's How to Watch!
This article is owned by Techtimes
Written by Nikki Delgado
