The man who co-founded the company behind the Titan underwater disaster believes he can ‘safely’ send people to Venus.
Guillermo Söhnlein, 58, made the revelation in a blog post in April in which he argued that humanity could try to live and work on Venus despite the inhospitable conditions due to its proximity to Earth.
He believes that Venus’ challenges, such as carbon dioxide and clouds made of sulfuric acid, “can be overcome with breathing apparatus and acid-resistant materials.”
The Argentinian-born co-founder of OceanGate also believes that the inhospitable surface, which is around 864 degrees Fahrenheit (462 degrees Celsius), should not be a problem if people simply build a house 50 km in the air, where the conditions are said to be similar to those on Earth.
On his blog earlier this year, the Argentinian-born co-founder of Oceangate wrote: “We could begin our Venusian journey TODAY… and do it safely and cost-effectively.
“The reality is that Venus is much closer to Earth and has a much similar orbit, making it much more accessible than Mars (lower costs, more frequent flight windows, shorter transit times, higher safety, etc.).
“Furthermore, we don’t have to worry about conducting successful landings on the Earth’s surface, which is one of the biggest challenges that await us on Mars.
“If anything, you could argue that sending people to Venus BEFORE sending them to Mars could be a better way to safely develop the capabilities to create a community on Mars.”
Söhnlein now hopes to encourage enough people to join a community, including scientists, explorers and private investors, to realize his dream of reaching Venus, despite the fact that humans have never physically traveled further than the moon.
He co-founded OceanGate in 2009 with Stockton Rush, 61, who died last June when the Titan suffered a “catastrophic implosion” about an hour and 45 minutes after its dive to the Titanic wreck site, which happened a year ago today .
Söhnlein was still open about his most ambitious exploration plans last June after the Titan disaster.
He founded the Humans2Venus Foundation after leaving OceanGate in January 2020.
Undeterred by the fact that humans have not yet reached Mars, he believes the hottest planet in our solar system is ripe for colonization.
“I think it’s less ambitious than having a million people on the surface of Mars by 2050,” he said. Business insider at the time.
“It would raise eyebrows outside the space industry. And it even raises eyebrows within the space industry.
“Forget OceanGate. Forget Titan. Forget Stockton. Humanity could be on the brink of a major breakthrough and not benefit from it because we as a species will be eliminated and pushed back into the status quo.
“[Sending humans to Venus] … it is ambitious, but I think it is also very feasible in 2050.”
As reported by Space.com, experts currently believe that human life on Venus is virtually impossible.
According to the co-founder’s LinkedIn, his passion for exploring the undiscovered has not diminished in the wake of the OceanGate disaster.
In January this year, he founded Space Bridge Partners, a company that connects commercial investors interested in space exploration with missions.
Söhnlein’s LinkedIn also reveals that he was no longer working for OceanGate at the time of the Titan disaster last June, having left his position as COO in January 2013.