Rather than lounging around on an interplanetary vacation, the passengers would be sent to work, carrying with them equipment to build sustainable housing on the dusty and currently barren soil for future generations.

Immediate ground work would focus on building transparent domes pressurized with CO2 while possibly covered in a layer of water to serve as protection from the sun.

With the CO2, Mars' soil would be capable of growing crops for food, he said.

Additional equipment carried over could also produce fertilizer, methane and oxygen using the atmosphere’s natural elements of nitrogen, carbon dioxide and its surface of ice water.

Musk believes one person out of every 100,000 people would be interested in making the journey with 8 billion expected on Earth by time his plans become reality.

(Read by Brian Salter. Brian Salter is a journalist at the China Daily Website.)

双语资讯

(Agencies)

一个野心勃勃的亿万富翁透露了他在火星上殖民的计划——这需要8万个勇敢的人支付50万美金飞往火星才能实现。

私营太空公司SpaceX的创始人、首席执行官亿万富翁艾龙•马斯克已经宣布了他对火星生命的宏图。

他说，殖民计划会从小起步，先送10人以下的先锋队去火星，他将用一艘以液态氧气和甲烷驱动的可重复使用的火箭运送这些人前往火星。

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