Elon Musk's Ambition To Build A Country On Planet Mars

Illustrations to the Mars column (SpaceX)

JAKARTA - Not only intending to send humans to Mars. Elon Musk also plans to create a colony or even a country on the red planet.

This is the biggest ambition for the CEO of SpaceX. According to him, Mars is a planet that is feasible and can be inhabited by humans by setting targets in the next 2030.

Musk has also planned how humans can live on an alien planet. At least the technology billionaire's idea was contained in a science journal published by New Space.

Musk's explanation of how to create a colony on Mars was made in print, complete with graphics and illustrations. Where in the journal, Musk makes space travel to Mars 140 million miles away look easy.

Elon Musk's ambitious plans (doc. SpaceX)

To realize this, Musk explained a number of steps that must be taken to reduce the cost of building construction on Mars. One of them is by using a space rocket module that can be used repeatedly.

With Musk's rough calculations, the cost required to transport humans from Earth to Mars is cheaper, between 100-200 thousand US dollars (about Rp1.3 billion to Rp2.6 billion) per person.

"If we can reduce the cost of moving to Mars to the equivalent of the average house price in the United States, which is around US $ 200 thousand (Rp2.7 billion), I think the opportunity to create an independent civilization on Mars is very high," Musk wrote. with full confidence.

Musk said the mission will be carried out in collaboration between the private sector and the government. In fact, to realize this visionary figure's dream, Business Insider noted SpaceX has started the recruitment process for 473 positions since March 2017 with many positions opened and focused on Mars exploration missions.

So 666 flights of starship per year 😉 I like your style 🤘that's almost two flights a day, think that's feasible?

- Everyday Astronaut (@Erdayastronaut) January 17, 2020

First Life on Mars

Musk once revealed how the first human colony life on Mars. It will start from the glass dome.

"Life in the glass dome was originally. After that, terraformed to support life, like on Earth," Musk said as quoted from the Futurism page.

Terraforming is the process of changing the atmosphere, temperature or surface topography of a planet so that its environment is similar to Earth's. Many scientists say a process like this could help humans survive on the surface of Mars.

Even though the construction of Terraforming is not an easy matter because it requires huge resources. But those limitations haven't stopped Musk's dream of building a colony on Mars.

Through SpaceX, the 49-year-old man has developed the giant Starship rocket project which is slated to launch to Mars in 2024. His company is also developing a giant rocket that can carry heavy cargo or 100 passengers from Earth to Mars and vice versa, to start building a civilization on Mars. .

"That way, it will take about 40-100 years to be able to create an independent civilization on Mars," said Musk.

Sovereign State on Mars

Not only with the ambition to create a human colony on Mars. Musk is also ambitious to form a sovereign government on the red planet.

Given that so far, no government on Earth has the power and sovereignty claims over Mars. Therefore, Musk proposed to present a separate system of government on the planet through a democratic system.

"Most likely, the Mars government will be formed in a direct democracy. People will vote directly on an issue rather than making decisions through a representative government," Musk said at the 2018 SXSW conference, as quoted by Gizchina.

Unfortunately not all parties accept the idea of the Tesla boss. Some circles, such as legal academics, have doubts about SpaceX's ability to establish a state on Mars independently.

Attorney Randy Sgar from Hogan Lovells Law Firm, believes that everyone on earth has the same right and responsibility to create spaces that everyone can enjoy.

"For example, the 2020 Artemis agreement stipulates that no country can claim sovereignty, use or occupy, or occupy space in any other way," said Sgar.

However, Musk's whole idea of establishing a 'Mars' state independently will still take a long time. Given the technological developments to reach the red planet, it cannot be realized in the near future.