Can you dish out $200,000 or lesser for a one-way ticket to work and live in a boisterous city built on Mars? Well if you can, you can hope to realize your dreams of living and working in space in the next 100 years, or maybe 10 years if Elon Musk of SpaceX succeeds first. This idea is coming on the current plans of the government of the United Arab Emirates to build a city on Mars within the next 100 years.
Mars 2117 Project and the UAE's ambitious space program
Mars 2117 Project is a new space construction project which the UAE is planning by building a city with an average population of 600,000 on Mars, and about the size of Chicago too. This revelation was made by the vice president of the UAE and ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, during the World Government Summit held on Tuesday in Dubai, the Christian Science Monitor reports. It is actually an ambitious project to contemplate, but the government of the UAE has been known to execute the most ambitious construction projects in the world.
The UAE government is not deluded into thinking that building a city the size of Chicago with 600,000 people on Mars is a joke, they are pretty serious about the project and already making plans to launch their space programs in 2020. The government is already setting up a scientific team to spearhead the project in terms of developing space shuttle programs as well as visualize living conditions in space. The government also hopes to begin space programs studies at national universities within the country.
Living and working in space is UAE's gift to coming generations
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum later tweeted on Tuesday that: "Mars 2117 is a seed we are sowing today to reap the fruits of new generations led by a passion for science and advancing human knowledge," the Washington Post writes. However, that is not the end of the post, the sheikh further tweeted that: "The project, to be named Mars 2117, integrates a vision to create a mini-city and community on Mars involving international cooperation." This is now something everyone is waiting to see happen.
And while SpaceX's Elon Musk has set his vision on deploying successful spacecrafts and hoping for a life on Mars within the next 10 years, he hasn't been much forthcoming on how people will breathe, live, work and stay healthy when they arrive to Mars. However, this is something the UAE is set to take in their stride as they continue with their ambitious life in space program. Sheikh Al Maktoum noted that there are no limits to human ambitions and scientific breakthroughs in this century are proofs of this fact.
