The possibility of living on Mars has been lobbied so long that a lot of developments and discoveries have already been made. There are now simulation camps, countless pictures for studies, and other experiments to test if life on the Red Planet could be the future for humanity. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) now has a goal to send humans to Mars by the mid-2030s and, as announced in one of their interviews, they are on target to do just that!
However, one man, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos in particular, vocally disagrees. For the richest man alive, while leaving the planet could be the path that humanity is taking, he doesn't believe that Mars should be the next planet to inhabit. In fact, Bezos does not believe that there is a need for a planet. In his speech at the Yale Club in New York last February, the CEO challenged his audience to live on top of Mount Everest instead of occupying Mars. He described living on top of the highest point above sea level as a life in a garden compared to the Red Planet.
Clarifying any speculation, the CEO emphasized that there is a need for humanity to move out of the Earth when the time comes that rationing resources would no longer be enough. He further explained that the solar system has enough sources to support a trillion human beings and that tapping into the solar system's resources could result in a dynamic civilization.
The vision of Bezos revolves around living on self-sufficient space structures, referencing to the ones designed by Gerard O'Neill, a Princeton physics professor. The professor's space settlements feature two cylinders that are 20 miles in length and could fit an entire landscape. In a report, it has been said that conservatively, only two decades were needed to build such a self-sustaining dwelling. Bezos favors how close space settlements can be to the Earth, compared to the energy and time required of moving to another planet.
Elon Musk, Tesla and SpaceX CEO, has a similar idea where humans are supposed to be a species having multiple planets as their home. Musk is optimistic about the possibility that the robust lifestyles in science fiction may someday come to be. The CEO also gave a warning about the dangers posed by attempts on "terraforming" Mars. Musk emphasized how coming back from the Red Planet, given the environment is too harsh for inhabitation, may not be certain.
