News came out today that Google and Virgin are working on a project to start colonizing the planet Mars. Of course when I first heard this I instantly thought “April Fool’s Joke” since the news did surface on the first day of April and the name of the project, Virgle, seemed a bit to silly. On second thought it makes perfect sense that these companies would team up to try such a daunting task. Google is currently running it’s X Prize which aims to encourage leaps forward in aviation by rewarding any private company 30 million dollars if they can figure out how to send a robot rover to the moon and complete certain tasks. Virgin on the other hand has emerged as a pioneer in the area of commercial space travel with Virgin Galactic. Then there is the fact that Google Founders and Virgin head all have videos explaining the Virgle project. Which means if this is indeed just a April Fool’s Day hoax, it goes all the way to the top though Google is well known for playing jokes on April 1st.

If this is indeed real it would be kinda cool. I find it interesting that these huge companies are taking it upon themselves to take mankind forward into the unknown which has always been something reserved for governments and monarchies going back to Columbus’ voyage all the way up to the Moonlanding.

Is man ready to muck up another planet? Probably doesn’t matter anyway since this is likely an April Fool’s Joke ;). However if you are interested in being one of the first people to land on Mars, you can head over the official website and sign up.