Toroid
Founding Member
Jeff Bezos said in a Space Development Conference in Los Angeles that we need to colonize the moon. He suggests moving industry to the moon and even asteroids.
Bezos says we need to leave Earth in order to survive
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0B6vAEfi3Ic
Bezos says we need to leave Earth in order to survive
From Fox News: The recently anointed richest person in the world, Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, says we need to colonize the moon — and time is of the essence.
“We must go back to the moon, and this time to stay,” he said.
Speaking at the Space Development Conference in Los Angeles over the weekend, Mr. Bezos made the argument that in order to protect Earth and allow the human species to continue growing, we need to move much of our industrial activity to the moon, or even asteroids.
The 54-year-old billionaire said moving heavy industry into solar-powered space outposts is the only way to ensure that our planet can cope with the rising demand for energy and the stresses of a growing population.
“We will have to leave this planet,” he said, according to Geek Wire. “We’re going to leave it, and it’s going to make this planet better. We’ll come and go, and the people who want to stay, will stay.”
Mr. Bezos believes it will happen in our lifetime because the human race has little alternative. “The alternative is stasis,” he said, adding that without space settlements, societies around the globe “will have to stop growing” due to environmental and other constraints.
“That’s not the future that I want for my grandchildren, or my grandchildren’s grandchildren.”
The US government has stated it wants to pursue sustainable outposts in space and the Trump administration has shown renewed interest in returning to the moon. The Amazon CEO expects US government funding taxpayers to play a vital role in efforts to build habitats in space but said his rocket company, Blue Origin, would push on with its mission even if it doesn’t receive funding help from NASA.
“It won’t be done by one company” or by NASA, he said but by “thousands of companies working in concert over many decades”.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has previously outlined his idea for sending humans to colonize Mars but Mr. Bezos clearly thinks our planet’s moon is a better option for an initial outpost. As he pointed out during the conference talk, the moon is more conveniently located and reachable in just a couple of days with the right rocket.
The e-commerce entrepreneur also seems excited by the fact that in the past decade scientists discovered the existence of icy water near the poles that could theoretically be converted into hydrogen and oxygen and used for drinkable water, breathable air and propellants for reusable rockets.
“It’s almost like somebody set this up for us,” Mr. Bezos said.
If you’re a billionaire leader of industry, it’s become rather fashionable to use your means to push humanity towards the final frontier.
Jeff Bezos previously said he sells about $1 billion a year in Amazon stock to pursue his plans for space tourism and called his rocket company “the most important work I am doing”.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0B6vAEfi3Ic