Noah Inada

Mrs. Schirripa
5/16/16
Plan an Adventure

1. Budget
In order to get one million people to Mars, it becomes necessary to have an
affordable ticket price. A ticket of $500,000 will be affordable by many people
in 2040, and will cover many of the costs of the trip. This price is surprisingly
low if we compare it to NASAs cost of sending one person to space of
$50,000,000. In order to afford this ticket, for the next 14 years I will invest is
only liquid assets. For many reasons different reasons, I will choose to rent
instead of buy a house. This allows me to use my money to invest into stocks,
as a way to invest my money. Doing this, along with having an annual salary
of over $100,000, will allow me to save enough money in at most ten years,
making the 2040 deadline. Ill have this salary through a degree in computer
science at UCSD, and through the experience that I already have and will
gain. Ideally I would work for Elon Musk which would make this adventure
much more personal, but I understand that I shouldnt limit myself.
2. Culture
At first, Mars appears to be a desolate wasteland with no potential of life.
Thats because it is. However, we have the potential to change that with
technology. Watching or reading the story The Martian gives an accurate
depiction of what early life on Mars would be like. In time, however, there
would be cities- the first colonization of unknown lands in millions of years. As
technology progresses, we may be able to terraform the land and
atmosphere to make it more suitable for our needs. Mars has huge ice caps
frozen on each end of the planet. These hold enough water to allow a species
to survive on it- melting all of the ice would create an ocean covering the
surface of the planet a few feet deep. We might facilitate this process by
creating an exponential greenhouse effect on the planet. By creating an
atmosphere we may be able to simulate the life on Earth.
3. Rationale
When I first heard of Elon Musks plan to colonize Mars, I took it as another
publicity stunt. However, as I started to research himself and his companies
and everything he stands for, the magnitude of his intentions started to take
an effect on me. Before this year, I had never really reflected on what my
purpose was, or what my plan will be. I didnt know what I was passionate
about, and I was overall in a foggy state. The worst thing about the fog was
that I was not aware of it. I did not realize it before I started to seriously
reflect on my life, and that was while I started to learn more about this Mars
plan. Elon Musk reminds me of a modern Mr. Rogers, except instead of
passionately and genuinely caring about children, he is concerned for the
entire human species. Elon understands the fragility of our existence, and the

fact that where we are in terms of progress, we can just as easily cease to
exist as continue to exist. There is a wide variety of reasons, however Musks
rationale behind colonizing Mars is to have a sort of backup drive for our
species. If, for some reason, Earth is no longer able to support our species,
then Mars will ensure our survival.
After first hearing about the Mars colonization plan, and deeply reflected on
where I am and hope to do, I realized that Im going to be part of the
colonization. There are many reasons for this decision. First, it is the greatest
opportunity to explore where no man has gone before. It is an opportunity for
our species to come together and be proud of who we are, rather than
segregating ourselves. Second, it is an opportunity to create the greatest
civilization- new government, new codes of ethics, a new meaning of society.
Lastly, this will be one of the most significant milestone in the history of
humanity, and I dont see a reason why I shouldnt be a part of it.