Despite the recent OceanGate tragedy, co-founder Guillermo Söhnlein is determined to send people on yet another mission. Söhnlein is undeterred in his mission to send 1,000 people to live on the second planet in our solar system-– Venus. This audacious space mission is looking at launching by 2050. Söhnlein has wanted to see humanity living on several planets since he was 11, and had reoccurring dreams about colonizing Mars.
Söhnlein acknowledges the skepticism facing his mission, mostly regarding the harsh challenges Venus presents. He compares his goal to Elon Musk‘s mission to colonize Mars. While Venus is considered one of the most inhabitable planets, Söhnlein remains optimistic about a floating space station. This would mean the proposed space station would need to withstand the scorching temperature and toxic atmosphere of Venus.
This project is known as Humans2Venus, and was co-founded by researcher Khalid Al-Ali. The endgame may be having a human colony on (or around) Venus, but there are other goals too. They also aim to develop technologies to reduce launch costs. And also to fund space projects without having to rely on government subsidies and grants.
Given the “lax” approach his late OceanGate co-founder Stockton Rush had when it came to safety measures, we’re pretty skeptical about this venture. The fact that Söhnlein wants to accomplish this without government funding is a big red flag. Privately funded projects, be they space or ocean exploration, tend to skip certain government or industry regulations. Most people have taken to social media to criticize Söhnlein, much like they did when the OceanGate submersible imploded.
There are few details about the Humans2Venus project at this time. We’ll let you know what we hear about this and other news.
