Millionaires, for some reason, feel lately compelled to build giant rockets and send humanity packing. Elon Musk wants to send a million people to Mars, Jeffrey Bezos wants to establish an industrial base in space, and Richard Branson aims to lead galactic tourism. While they play at being NASA, a new contender enters. And it doesn’t inspire much confidence.
A flawed CV
Soon, the Mecano song that said “Déjalo ya, sabes que nunca has ido a Venus en un barco” (“Stop it now, you know you’ve never been to Venus on a boat”) might transition from surrealism to reality, thanks to Guillermo Söhnlein, a millionaire who wants to venture into the space race. You may know him better as one of the two founders of OceanGate and, therefore, Titán. Yes, that’s right, the vessel designed to explore the Titanic, which imploded upon itself.
To his credit, it’s been ten years since he left that project, but it’s not the best introduction. And even less so when he announces his new plan to establish a colony of a thousand people on Venus by the year 2050. If Venus is known as “the evil twin of Earth,” there’s a reason for it, Guille. Visiting anything malevolent doesn’t sound appealing (let alone living there).
Yes, Venus is the hottest planet in the solar system, with sulfuric acid rains, and atmospheric pressure 90 times that of Earth. However, our friend doesn’t see a reason why we shouldn’t give it a try: there’s a 48-kilometer area on the surface where apparently humans could survive. Oh, well! 48 kilometers! That changes everything!
The plan involves building a space station to shield against sulfuric acid in the clouds. If that happens, he says hundreds of thousands of people could establish a new Venusian civilization. In an interview with Business Insider (not Venus Insider), he ends by saying, “I have the recurring dream of being the commander of the first Martian colony.” Coming from the creator of the imploded submarine, we trust everything he has to tell us wholeheartedly. Let’s go to Venus tomorrow; I’ll pack my suitcase!
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