It took somebody like President John F. Kennedy to push us toward a trip to the moon. Today’s space travel is quickly being privatized, and Elon Musk has some pretty big ideas. He wants to colonize mars with a million people.
Rice Space Institute Director Dr. David Alexander likes the audacity, but is at least a little skeptical.
“The idea of it supporting a million people -- I think we're a long way away,” Alexander says, “but, I think we should be out there in the solar system and turning science fiction into science fact.”
He says man can survive on mars for brief periods of time, but radiation will be a problem. Alexander thinks the goal is a good one -- and it could lead to many beneficial developments.
“He (Musk) will develop some really interesting technologies which will go toward some of that,” he says, “and it may be habitat technologies, it may be radiation technologies.”