Oscar-winning actor and environmental activist Leonardo DiCaprio has always been full of surprises but few could have anticipated that such a gifted man would choose to end his career in such a dramatic way.
DiCaprio was born on Earth, but wants to be buried on Mars.
It’s not the plot to a movie, it’s not a publicity stunt, or the fevered dreams of some crazed cult hell-bent on taking their religion to the stars. Nor is it some far-flung adventure cushioned and rendered palatable by the simple fact of it being so many years in the future. The first, unmanned test flight, is set for 2018.
Life On Mars
The technology to take human beings to the red planet exists, just ask Elon Musk, the founder and CEO of SpaceX, a company whose very existence serves only one purpose; to make life multiplanetary. That wasn’t even a word before Musk added it to the English language.
The key to success is the concept of a reusable rocket, as Musk himself explained:
“If one can figure out how to effectively reuse rockets just like airplanes, the cost of access to space will be reduced by as much as a factor of a hundred. A fully reusable vehicle has never been done before. That really is the fundamental breakthrough needed to revolutionize access to space.”
The proof of concept prototype has been tested and retested. It’s good to go. The Falcon 9 rocket takes off in the usual way but what happens next is a little surreal; like video footage played in reverse, the rocket descends, and then lands in the same way it takes off, vertically.
An Unrealistic Plan
DiCaprio was speaking at White House’s South by South Lawn (SXSL) festival as part of a panel that included President Barrack Obama and climate scientist Dr. Katharine Hayhoe who emphasized the importance of preserving planet Earth, dismissing Musk’s planned relocation as unrealistic adding:
“As long as we haven’t signed up for the trip to Mars—I don’t want to know if anyone has—I think you’re crazy.”
DiCaprio joked:
“I did.”
At least, it sounded like a joke. It’s hard to tell when an Oscar-winning actor is being serious sometimes.
Life In The Freezer
Because it is a serious business. Don’t be fooled by shots of what looks like a reddish, arid desert; the mean temperature on Mars is a less than comfortable -64 degrees Fahrenheit, the air is too thin to breathe and any water to be found is buried deep in the permafrost. As Musk himself said at the International Astronautical Congress:
“The first journey will be very dangerous, and the risk of fatality will be very high, are you prepared to die? Then you are a candidate for going.”
Whether DiCaprio truly intends to die on Mars or not is open to debate. That it would be one hell of a final curtain call?
Not so much.
Watch Elon Musk unveil his ambitious plan to go to Mars:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFA6DLT1jBA
Featured image from YouTube video.
