How Close Are We to Colonising Mars?

The Red Planet may be inhospitable but it’s front and centre in the plans to save humankind from extinction.  How are we going achieve that?  By setting up a colony on Mars.  There is of course the small matter of the 97,6 million kms that separate the two planets – but that’s no deterrent to the visionaries who are putting the finishing touches to our next great adventure!

The First Crewed Missions to Mars 

What is the bravest thing you have ever done?  Facing down hungry lions, scrumming against Os Du Rand and playing high stakes online casino games at Springbok Casino?  Truth be told, all of those feats pale in significance when compared to the heroic few who have already committed to the first ever crewed mission to Mars. 

These dudes are not brave… they are stir crazy.  Why?  As things stand, we have the technology, spacecraft and capabilities to get them to Mars but no way of getting them back.  That means an entire lifetime on an unfamiliar planet and one that is cold, barren, hostile and bleak!  That’s not to mention the toll that radiation can take on the human body en route.

The only good news for our brave Martian travellers is the fact that Elon Musk’s’ constellation of Starlink satellites is so advanced, playing online casino games on the adopted planet surely can’t be that far off.  What is more, the genius behind SpaceX is already working on a plan to transport and retrieve fellow humans from Mars… but more about that a little later on!

Why Mars? 

Why choose Mars as an interplanetary extension of Earth?  Well for one it is the closest planet to us by some considerable margin.  We may have to travel more than 97 million kms to Mars – and that by the way is around 25 times the distance to the Moon – but the alternatives, Mercury and Jupiter are 205,08 million kms and 858,36 million kms away respectively.  Now that is a ‘road trip’ nobody in their right minds would want to take!

Besides its ‘close’ proximity to us, Mars has a similar surface area and axial tilt to Earth.  The Martian days are of comparable length to ours and there are even seasons in the year.  Average temperatures however range from - 4 degrees Celsius to - 87 degrees Celsius and that means there is no spring or summer at all – just one long cold continuum tailor made for procreating, procrastinating and playing online casino games on-demand!

Tough Conditions for Human Beings 

Along with the incredibly cold climate Mars has an atmospheric pressure that is so low, humans need to be fully suited and booted when venturing out of doors.  What that means is there won’t be any streaking or skinny dipping in the brand-new Martian colony – just the real money action that you can find right now at Springbok Casino in the sky!

Factor in no rain, massive dust storms and leached, toxic soil incapable of sustaining plants or beasts and the Earthlings who do relocate to the Red Planet have their work cut out!

Elon Musk’s Plan – A Joyride to Mars and Back 

What is Musk’s plan for getting people to and from Mars?  Well that is essentially what his company SpaceX is all about.  Anybody who has any interest in space travel will know that SpaceX has already developed a super booster capable of propelling a rocket to Mars.  It has also built several protypes of Starship, a massive 100-crew spacecraft that will be used exclusively for deep space missions.

The idea – and it is a mind bending one at that – is to launch a fleet of tankers containing rocket propellant into Earth’s orbit.  The Starship or several Starships for that matter will then rendezvous with these tankers and refuel in space.  In doing so, the craft will have sufficient fuel to get to Mars and take-off and return to Earth again!

Using the Red Planet’s Resources to Survive 

That is the short-term plan.  The long-term plan is even more audacious.  It involves producing the propellant required to fuel the craft on Mars itself, using existing raw materials.  It also involves constructing launching pads, power generation systems, greenhouses, radiation shelters and lifestyle habitats.  

Perhaps a pressurised gaming hall is on the Martian blueprint as an alternative to the best online casino in cyberspace – and that, as we all know, is Springbok Casino!

A Human Colony on Mars by 2023? 

How far off are we from establishing a colony on Mars?  SpaceX is more focussed on getting the required infrastructure to the Red Planet and the plans are rapidly taking shape.  The human aspect is in the ambit of the likes of Mars One, a Dutch company that is planning to settle people on Mars by 2023.

The first ‘emigrants’ who make the great interplanetary leap will be expected to produce their own water, food and oxygen by mining the limited resources found on the planet.  If Elon Musk has his way, it won’t be a question of eternal emigration but rather a joyride to Mars – with the option of returning back to Earth again. 

Whichever way it pans out, I would far rather play online casino games at Springbok Casino and stay exactly where I am… and that is firmly earthbound.  Are you brave enough to volunteer for a one-way ticket to Mars?