# Elon Musk says 2026 for humans on Mars. Can any Government stop this madness **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 14, 2021, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-musk-says-2026-for-humans-on-mars-can-any-government-stop-this-madness/939972 "2021-04-14T14:33:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nansbread1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Nansbread1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nansbread1)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2021, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-musk-says-2026-for-humans-on-mars-can-any-government-stop-this-madness/939972/1 "2021-04-14T14:33:05Z")
Whilst I am in awe of Elon and what his endeavours have done for space travel, I find it downright bizarre that he proclaims that his plans are still on course for humans on Mars by 2026. I presume and everything points to my presumption being right, that he has no plans and has made no claims that the first humans will be brought back to Earth. As this appears to be a one way ticket to certain death, should any government or body prevent any humans from being sent to their certain death if not on the way perhaps even after landing on Mars. Would it not be murder? How would any such action begin and what would be the process. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2021, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-musk-says-2026-for-humans-on-mars-can-any-government-stop-this-madness/939972/2 "2021-04-14T14:36:42Z")
Everyone dies eventually. Why does someone need to be shipped back Earth after having a successful career on Mars? ---
**Author:** ![Dark\_Sponge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dark_sponge/32/121_2.png) [@Dark\_Sponge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dark_Sponge)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2021, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-musk-says-2026-for-humans-on-mars-can-any-government-stop-this-madness/939972/3 "2021-04-14T14:37:48Z")
> [@Nansbread1](#): > > …I presume and everything points to my presumption being right, that he has no plans and has made no claims that the first humans will be brought back to Earth… Most of those crazy settlers moving from Europe to the new world never made it back home either. And many died on the trip over. Also, life kinda sucked when they got here. I’m glad they did though. ---
**Author:** ![Capn\_Carl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Capn\_Carl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capn_Carl)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2021, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-musk-says-2026-for-humans-on-mars-can-any-government-stop-this-madness/939972/4 "2021-04-14T14:40:40Z")
Similar to Everest expeditions. Very expensive and very risky. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2021, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-musk-says-2026-for-humans-on-mars-can-any-government-stop-this-madness/939972/5 "2021-04-14T14:40:48Z")
> [@Dark\_Sponge](#): > > Most of those crazy settlers moving from Europe to the new world never made it back home either. And many died on the trip over. Also, life kinda sucked when they got here. I’m glad they did though. “Most of” is fundamentally different from “100%”. ---
**Author:** ![TheGunIsMightierThanThePen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thegunismightierthanthepen/32/2981_2.png) [@TheGunIsMightierThanThePen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheGunIsMightierThanThePen)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2021, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-musk-says-2026-for-humans-on-mars-can-any-government-stop-this-madness/939972/6 "2021-04-14T14:42:34Z")
No idea about regulatory/liability processes, but IMO if someone is gullible enough to let themselves be smooth-talked by Musk into a one-way trip to Mars, I’d say let them go and good riddance. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2021, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-musk-says-2026-for-humans-on-mars-can-any-government-stop-this-madness/939972/7 "2021-04-14T14:42:54Z")
I would absolutely, 10,000% rather die on Mars on a grand adventure. It’s not like he’s forcing people to go against their will. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2021, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-musk-says-2026-for-humans-on-mars-can-any-government-stop-this-madness/939972/8 "2021-04-14T14:43:57Z")
That’s true; it would be far more interesting than the lives of the vast majority of people. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2021, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-musk-says-2026-for-humans-on-mars-can-any-government-stop-this-madness/939972/9 "2021-04-14T14:44:17Z")
I’d be interested in seeing the waivers of liability. But yeah - why should any government care? Is there any legitimate state interest in prohibiting private persons from visiting other planets? Littering on them? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2021, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-musk-says-2026-for-humans-on-mars-can-any-government-stop-this-madness/939972/10 "2021-04-14T14:51:29Z")
Under international space law, the central text of which is the 1967 [Outer Space Treaty](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Outer_Space_Treaty_of_1967), launches into space need to be authorised by a government. It’s not prohibited to have space exploration by private parties, but they still must have authorisation by a state (in the international law sense, i.e., a national government), and legally the launch is considered to be one by that state. In particular, that state bears strict (i.e., not requiring any kind of intent or negligence) liability for damages caused by that object to other states. So what Musk could do is to shop around for some government somewhere willing to give him a authorisation. So far, his space activities (including controversial ones, such as Starlink) have American authorisation. He might consider moving to another jurisdiction if he doesn’t get the go-aheads there. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2021, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-musk-says-2026-for-humans-on-mars-can-any-government-stop-this-madness/939972/11 "2021-04-14T14:51:45Z")
> [@Nansbread1](#): > > Would it not be murder? It would also be murder if Ralph Kramden punched his wife and sent her to the moon (which is about as likely as Elon Musk sending someone to Mars by 2026). ---
**Author:** ![Dark\_Sponge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dark_sponge/32/121_2.png) [@Dark\_Sponge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dark_Sponge)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2021, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-musk-says-2026-for-humans-on-mars-can-any-government-stop-this-madness/939972/12 "2021-04-14T14:52:33Z")
> [@naita](#): > > “Most of” is fundamentally different from “100%”. Unless the entire colony dies I don’t think it’s going to be 100%. Give it 3 or 4 decades after the first colonization and I think we’ll have some return trips starting. Probably a few of the originals will still be around then. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2021, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-musk-says-2026-for-humans-on-mars-can-any-government-stop-this-madness/939972/13 "2021-04-14T14:57:07Z")
> [@Dark\_Sponge](#): > > Unless the entire colony dies I don’t think it’s going to be 100%. Give it 3 or 4 decades after the first colonization and I think we’ll have some return trips starting. Probably a few of the originals will still be around then. Humans are not going to be surviving on Mars for years, let along decades, any time soon, even with the level of resources Musk can put into the effort. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2021, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-musk-says-2026-for-humans-on-mars-can-any-government-stop-this-madness/939972/14 "2021-04-14T14:58:19Z")
> [@TheGunIsMightierThanThePen](#): > > IMO if someone is gullible enough to let themselves be smooth-talked by Musk into a one-way trip to Mars, I’d say let them go and good riddance. I’d go in a heartbeat on a credible (as in reasonable likelihood of success with survival of a few months) mission if I had some useful skills. In addition to wishing me good riddance, feel free to ask any questions of this “gullible” person, and please explain in the context of what earth-shattering things _you_ are planning to do with the rest of your life. And I’m mystified by the OP’s apparent assertion that there is any credible basis upon which I should not be _allowed_ to do this. Who has the right to decide what is a useful of worthwhile thing to do with your own life? On that basis, I think most human beings’ lives are pretty much pointless. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2021, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-musk-says-2026-for-humans-on-mars-can-any-government-stop-this-madness/939972/15 "2021-04-14T15:00:53Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > …(which is about as likely as Elon Musk sending someone to Mars by 2026). I share your skepticism about 2026 specifically, but that’s not really the central point here. Musk will sooner or later succeed in launching some volunteers on a planned one-way trip to Mars. Which may have a fig leaf of an eventual return mission being not impossible, provided the settlers live long enough on Mars for the rest of the plan to come together. I’m also not greatly interested in the OP’s outrage / concern. If Musk wants to spend money setting it up and people want to go, more power to them. I’m far more concerned about the idea that Musk will be creating facts on the ground out there that his corporation(s) own Mars or at least own an identifiable parcel on Mars. The history of “civilization” spreading around the globe and who owns which land now and how that came to be is decidedly not pretty. With money to be made, it’s not going to stay a “pristine and peaceful area for government research only” like Antarctica is presently. Net, ref some recent threads, of a very expensive exotic resort for rich folks. Antarctica will remain almost entirely economically useless (or at least uncompetitive vs other Earthly locations) for centuries even with unrealistically severe global warming. Maybe not Mars. As with Antarctica, better to have an enforceable legal framework in place first for how we do handle ownership of land and orbits on planets other than Earth. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2021, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-musk-says-2026-for-humans-on-mars-can-any-government-stop-this-madness/939972/16 "2021-04-14T15:06:55Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > I’d go in a heartbeat on a credible (as in reasonable likelihood of success with survival of a few months) mission if I had some useful skills. Do you know how to sanitize telephones? ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2021, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-musk-says-2026-for-humans-on-mars-can-any-government-stop-this-madness/939972/17 "2021-04-14T15:07:18Z")
> [@Schnitte](#): > > So what Musk could do is to shop around for some government somewhere willing to give him a authorisation. So far, his space activities (including controversial ones, such as Starlink) have American authorisation. He might consider moving to another jurisdiction if he doesn’t get the go-aheads there. “Gather 'round while I sing you of Elon R. Musk A man whose allegiance Is ruled by expedience…” ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2021, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-musk-says-2026-for-humans-on-mars-can-any-government-stop-this-madness/939972/18 "2021-04-14T15:07:53Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Do you know how to sanitize telephones? I know where to find the manual override for the pod bay doors. ---
**Author:** ![TheGunIsMightierThanThePen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thegunismightierthanthepen/32/2981_2.png) [@TheGunIsMightierThanThePen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheGunIsMightierThanThePen)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2021, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-musk-says-2026-for-humans-on-mars-can-any-government-stop-this-madness/939972/19 "2021-04-14T15:13:14Z")
I have no intentions of doing _any_ earth-shattering things in the rest of my lifetime. After witnessing for the past 5 years the inherent stupidity of so many people besides me, bursting out of thin air like a swarm of cicadas, I’ve lost all interest in furthering humanity in any way. What I _do_ like to do is speculate on ways humanity will decline in the long term, and if Musk’s mars expedition becomes a reality, I can watch in amusement as a group of people slave away in inhospitable conditions to survive, all for a person who will take credit for their achievements, and throw them under the bus at the first sign of their troubles. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2021, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-musk-says-2026-for-humans-on-mars-can-any-government-stop-this-madness/939972/20 "2021-04-14T15:14:43Z")
I have a much less charitable interpretation of this than some others. First of all, the target of 2026 is absurd, and it just underscores the second point: that Musk’s enormous ego has finally taken over the more rational parts of his brain. Musk seems to be under the impression that he can personally solve every major challenge facing humankind. In reality he’s a one-time genius who seems to have become an unbalanced nut. > [@Riemann](#): > > I’d go in a heartbeat on a credible (as in reasonable likelihood of success with survival of a few months) mission if I had some useful skills. I’m totally mystified by the attraction of traveling to a barren, toxic place that we’ve already seen in great high-definition detail, and whose every natural characteristic seems perfectly designed to kill you. Everything we know about it positively screams: “this is no place for man”. Analogies with “the New World” are complete bunk. Science fiction fantasies aside, this is not a New World, it’s a toxic hell-hole, a good place for exploratory robots, but not for us. > [@Riemann](#): > > Who has the right to decide what is a useful of worthwhile thing to do with your own life? On that basis, I think most human beings’ lives are pretty much pointless. I fail to see how committing suicide on another planet somehow makes your life worthwhile, unless the purpose of your life is to have your name in headlines, many of which will be scathingly critical. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-musk-says-2026-for-humans-on-mars-can-any-government-stop-this-madness/939972.md?page=2)