We have now associated the expedition company OceanGate with failure and tragedy ever since the incident that happened with its Titan submersible, although it seems that its executives aren't at all affected by it as it plans for bigger explorations, particularly to outer space.
OceanGate Shoots for Venus
The company's co-founder Guillermo Söhnlein shared his plans for OceanGate to send 1,000 people to outer space. The destination would be the planet Venus, particularly its atmosphere by 2025, and actually live there.
He stated that it's "less aspirational than putting a million people on the Martian surface by 2050." Then again, OceanGate is now known for having a faulty or less-than-ideal vehicle, so it might not matter how "less aspirational" they could be to get people to trust the company.
Even though Venus is only the second planet from the Sun after Mercury, it is still the hottest planet in the solar system, which means that it's not exactly the best environment for another home for humans.
Söhnlein says that there's research about Venus, stating that the atmosphere 30 miles above the surface of the hottest planet would allow humans to "theoretically survive," as mentioned in Interesting Engineering. The space vehicle has to be able to withstand sulfuric acid as well.
The co-founder might've chosen a better time to even disclose any projects from the company, especially since the submersible incident wasn't even that long ago. The families of the victims are likely still grieving the loss of their loved ones.
There's also the fact that OceanGate is also being investigated because of the submersible Titan's implosion. Right now, the company's website states that all exploration and commercial operations are suspended.
Living on Mars Would Be More Likely
Mars, as desolate as it is, still makes a far better planet alternative to Venus, which has a surface hot enough to even melt lead. The plans for living on Venus are also backed by an actual space company, SpaceX.
It's evidently that Musk is not handling Twitter's transition all that well, but SpaceX is actually slowly reaching its goals. The tech billionaire says that astronauts could even set foot on the planet by 2029, eventually leading to his dreams of a Mars City.
As reported in Inverse, Musk wants to establish a self-sustaining city where around a million people can live. This will turn humans into "multi-planet species." The SpaceX CEO said that it's an important thing for the future of life itself.
He pointed out that there's always some chance that something could go wrong on Earth, adding the fact that there are no dinosaurs around anymore. The space company already has clear goals and already has a vast head start against OceanGate, which doesn't even dabble in space.
Even if both companies were at the same level of progress, living in Venus' atmosphere still sounds like a bad idea. It's a different thing living on the land of the Red Planet and floating on the sulfuric atmosphere of Venus.
