Elon Musk, Colbert Interview On Mars Habitation Plan, Musk: Nuke Mars’ Poles [Video]
Elon Musk is the chief executive officer of Tesla Motors Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) and privately-held SpaceX. Musk, who has been compared to fictional heroes Tony Stark and John Galt, appeared on the The Late Show With Stephen Colbert on Wednesday, where he discussed his views on how humankind might go about colonizing Mars. His solution: nuke Mars’ poles.
The Inquisitr has previously reported on Musk’s plan to nuke mars.
After receiving a round of applause from audience members for his involvement with SolarCity Corporation (NASDAQ: SCTY), Musk answered Colbert’s questions with regard to SpaceX and Mars.
“Are you sincerely trying to save the world?” Colbert asks.
“Well, I’m trying to good things, yeah,” Musk self-consciously stutters.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LaXSXjMxWM
“But you’re trying to do good things and you’re a billionaire,” Colbert prods Musk.
“Yeah,” Musk says while rolling his eyes.
“That seems a little bit like superhero or super villain,” Colbert states. The audience laughs. “You have to choose just one.”
“I’m trying to do useful things,” Musk says.
Colbert and Musk then discuss a new Tesla product called a power arm, which Colbert refers to as a “snake charger,” and the conversation turns to SpaceX and Mars.
“You sincerely think we should go to Mars, like, that men and women should go to Mars,” Colbert states to Musk.
“Yeah,” Musk answers.
“Why do we want to go to Mars, it’s uninhabitable,” says Colbert.
“It’s very inhospitable, that’s true,” Musk replies with a light, South African accent.
“It is, like you have to be in, like, domes, and everything…”
“Initially,” Musk clarifies.
“Initially? Really?” Colbert seems skeptical. “How long before we could turn Mars into someplace we could live?”
“It is a fixer-upper of a planet,” Musk admits. “Uh, so first you’re going to have to live in transparent domes, but eventually…” Musk trails off.
“First we’re going to be huffing each others stank,” Colbert chides Musk to laughs from the audience.
“Yeah, uh,” Musk stutters. “But eventually we could turn Mars into an Earth-like planet.”
“How would you do that?” Colbert asks.
“You’d warm it up. Just warm it up,” Musk explains.
“With a blanket or with what?” Colbert asks. “How would you warm Mars up. Its a long way…”
“There’s the fast way, and the slow way,” Musk says.
“OK,” Colbert sounds doubtful. “Give me the fast way.”
“The fast way is drop thermonuclear weapons over the poles,” Musk says with confidence.
The audience nervously giggles, waiting for the late night host’s reaction.
“You’re a super villain,” Colbert teases Musk on the audacity of the ‘nuke mars’ notion, leaning toward him, causing the CEO to laugh. “That’s what a super villain does.”
“Uh, yeah,” Musk looks into his lap.
“Superman doesn’t say, ‘We’ll drop thermonuclear bombs.’ That’s Lex Luther man,” Colbert says looking for an explanation.
“Uh, the slow way would be to release greenhouse gases, like we’re doing on Earth. We’ve gotten a lot of experience releasing greenhouse gases.”
“We could export some of the greenhouse gases from Earth to Mars,” Colbert interjects with a helpful tone. “Now you also have ways for us to get there, because you’re also one of the CEOs of SpaceX.”
“I’m the CEO,” Musk corrects Colbert.
“You’re the CEO,” Colbert feigns surprise. “Oh, I’m sorry.”
The two then discuss the SpaceX Falcon rocket, which the CEO says will make the journey to Mars possible despite its recent, unsuccessful test flight. Colbert closes up the interview congratulating Musk on his Mars plans, his efforts to increase the use of renewable energy, and his positive outlook for humanity, to applause from the audience.
What do you think about Musk’s “nuke Mars” plan? Will we see people living on Mars in the near future?
[Photo by Scott Olson / Getty Images]
