Mars Miners

Wired is running a very interesting story on a company dubbed 4Frontiers. Apparently these guys really enjoy Flash because I can't see shit on their website (I don't have Flash plugin installed on my laptop yet). But in addition to love of Flash these guys also have bold plans to set up mining facilities on Mars.

4Frontiers (the four being the Earth, moon, Mars and the main asteroid belt) will be ready in 2025 with the tools that space explorers will need to colonize the solar system, said Bruno Marino, a consultant to the company.

What makes this group so unique is that it is all about getting on the surface of Mars and making the settlement," said Marino. "We are ready to set up shop as soon as we can get on the surface.

This is awesome! I knew that this will happen sooner or later. Large scale space conquest and expansion can only happen if space is privatized. We have already seen first private spaceships reaching the orbit. Now we will see first companies cashing in on space. I'll be around 50 around the time they are planning to start mining Mars (that is if the DRM related annoyances won't give me heart attack before that). Which means that I might see the beggining of the space exploration era! It is my little dream to actually see first colonies established on Moon and Mars within my lifetime.

If these guys are serious about this, and not just pulling some lame publicity stunt, I might just get my wish come true.

Tags:space, space exploration, space conquest, mars, moon, mars exploration, mars mines, mars mining, mining mars, space mining