Ella Scott
An OceanGate co-founder claims humans can ‘safely’ be sent to habituate Venus - despite experts believing it’s almost impossible for us to survive on the planet.
Guillermo Söhnlein, 58, and the late Stockton Rush, 61, co-founded the company behind the Titan submersible in 2009.
Rush was onboard the OceanGate vessel along with Paul-Henri Nargeolet, Hamish Harding, Shahzada Dawood and Sulaiman Dawood when it suffered a ‘catastrophic implosion’ just hours into a trip to see the Titanic wreckage site last year.
His former business partner, Söhnlein, has since outlined plans for his new venture.
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Writing on his blog in April this year, the Argentinian-born businessman revealed how he thinks humanity can survive on Venus and overcome its various inhospitable challenges.
Söhnlein believes that by utilising ‘breathing apparatus and acid-resistant materials’ humans can adapt to the planet’s atmosphere.
Moreover, he also claims that Venus’ 864 degrees Fahrenheit surface shouldn’t be an issue for Earth dwellers as long as 50km homes and buildings are erected.
This is because experts claim conditions 50km above Venus’ surface are similar to those on Earth, as per The Independent.
“We could embark on our Venusian journey TODAY... and do it safely and cost-effectively,” typed the OceanGate co-founder in April.
“The reality is that Venus is much closer to Earth and has a much more similar orbit, which makes it much more accessible than Mars (lower cost, more frequent flight windows, shorter transit times, higher safety, etc.).
Furthermore, Söhnlein argues that NASA could send humans to Venus before Mars - despite astronauts having never travelled physically further than the Moon.
“Also, we don’t have to worry about conducting successful landings on the planet’s surface, which is one of the biggest challenges awaiting us on Mars.” he said.
“If anything, one could argue that sending humans to Venus BEFORE sending them to Mars might be a better way to safely develop the capabilities to create a Martian community,” he wrote.
The former Marine Corp, who departed OceanGate in 2013, co-founded the Humans2Venus Foundation in 2020 - a nonprofit organization ‘dedicated to promoting Venus as a potential long-term destination for humanity.’
Speaking about his planet-focused project last year, Söhnlein said: "I think I've been driven to help make humanity a multi-planet species since I was 11 years old.
“I had this recurring dream of being the commander of the first Martian colony.”
He added to Business Insider last year that he believes 1,000 humans could be living in The Evening Star’s clouds by 2050.
“It is aspirational, but I think it's also very doable.” he said.