OceanGate’s surviving co-founder said he wants to put humans in a colony on Venus by 2050, according to an interview published last week.
Guillermo Söhnlein told Business Insider that he sees humans living in the atmosphere of the second planet from the sun and has a business venture to pursue the goal.
Söhnlein said this in the face of the recent Titan disaster drawing international scrutiny to his former company’s lax safety practices and causing OceanGate to suspend all commercial and exploration operations.
Titan implosion, five dead does not dissuade exploration efforts
Söhnlein’s comments on the feasibility of the concept had echoes of the description of the Titan submersible that imploded during a descent to the Titanic crash site, killing five including OceanGate co-founder and CEO Stockton Rush.
“It would raise eyebrows outside the space industry. And it even raises eyebrows inside the space industry,” Söhnlein told Business Insider.
Söhnlein’s venture, Humans2Venus, aims to put 1,000 humans in a floating colony in the atmosphere of Venus. Söhnlein said he would not let the Titan disaster dissuade him from pushing boundaries in exploration.
“Forget OceanGate. Forget Titan. Forget Stockton. Humanity could be on the verge of a big breakthrough and not take advantage of it because we, as a species, are gonna get shut down and pushed back into the status quo,” said Söhnlein, who left OceanGate in 2013, according to reports.
Implosion Backlash:Titan submersible tragedy could lead to lawsuits and regulatory changes, experts say
Titan implosion raises safety concerns
Söhnlein’s previous venture, OceanGate, became the center of world news in June as a dramatic race-against-the-clock rescue unfolded in the shadow of one of history’s greatest ocean disasters.
On June 18 the Titan began a descent to the wreckage of the Titanic off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada. An hour and 45 minutes later, the submersible lost contact with its support ship. The submersible imploded due to the exterior water pressure exerted on it at the depths needed to reach the Titanic.
Multiple former passengers came forward during the rescue to describe the harrowing conditions of the submersible during their trip.
An investigation is ongoing.
