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OceanGate co-founder Guillermo Sohnlein wants to send 1,000 people to a floating space colony on Venus by the year 2050.
Yes, that OceanGate. The one that imploded a few weeks ago, killing all five people on board including OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush.
According to Sohnlein, his plan to send 1,000 people to Venus is “less aspirational than putting a million people on the Martian surface by 2050,” referring to Elon Musk.
For what it’s worth, Sohnlein is no longer associated with OceanGate, having left the company in 2016.
He is now focused on his non-profit Humans2Venus, which is “dedicated to promoting Venus as a potential long-term destination for humanity.”
“Our mission is to create the largest global community of general and professional Venus enthusiasts,” the company states on its website.
But wait… wouldn’t it literally be impossible to actually put people on Venus?
Yes, it is referred to as Earth’s “sister planet” because of its similar mass and the fact that many scientists believe it once was also covered mostly in water and had an atmosphere suitable for living organisms, but… Venus has an atmospheric pressure 92 times that of Earth with a mean temperature of 867°F – conditions that would crush and melt down anything that entered its atmosphere.
No worries, Sohnlein explained in a recent interview with Business Insider.
“You’re absolutely right that when you talk about going to Venus, it would raise eyebrows outside the space industry. And it even raises eyebrows inside the space industry,” he said.
His plan? Set up a colony on a space station 30 miles above the surface of Venus where temperatures and atmospheric pressure are lower.
What could possibly go wrong?
Scientists have been trying for years to find signs of alien life on other planets, especially on Venus and Venus’ atmosphere due to its similarity to Earth.
Perhaps Sohnlein and his Venus colony will be able to do it?