Are You Ready To Colonize Mars?

We’re wrapping up what has been an incredible week of outer space exploration, innovation and celebration, but the fun doesn’t stop there. Elon Musk recently discussed his vision of colonizing Mars through his rocketry firm, SpaceX. Mr. Musk has been a long-time believer that Mars can be colonized within the foreseeable future, and SpaceX plans to spearhead the movement.

This got us thinking…

Numerous critics claim Mr. Musk and his plans for Mars are crazy, but we think ambitious, daring dreams can be the start to something magical. If entrepreneurs like Mr. Musk didn’t think out of the box (or in this case, out of this planet), we’ll never know what we can achieve. Last week, we celebrated women in space and aeronautics who followed their dreams to achieve the unthinkable. This month, we’re celebrating creative, passionate kids who can use the learning experiences unique to their generation to change the world. After all, when we were kids, who could’ve imagined future generations would have the ability to digitally create their own physical toys?

We might not yet quite be ready to colonize Mars, but there’s nothing wrong with dreaming a little! So, we wanted to know: if you had the chance to colonize your own living space in Mars, how would you do it?

Grab your kiddos and brainstorm this new life together. What would you do differently in this brand new world? Would start completely fresh, or would you use something from Earth as your inspiration?

We want to know! Leave a comment below about what your dream colony on Mars would look like. We might even publish a few favorite responses.

For some ideas to get you started, the PopUp Play team brainstormed our very own Mars colony:

For starters, we want to find a way to live as close to the surface of Mars as we can. It can get pretty windy over there, and there’s that whole carbon dioxide levels in the air thing. So, our software developer, Chris, had the idea of finding a cavern or crevice on Mars, sealing it so there’s a breathable atmosphere inside, and covering the top with a glass dome. That way, we could see a whole new part of the galaxy on a regular basis.

We would plan to create these domes with as little effect on the planet as possible, since we want to preserve the natural landscape of Mars (although, according to NASA footage, it’s mostly just dust and rock). And who knows, maybe Kid President would be interested in being the official President of our PopUp Play Mars Colony…

Of course, that’s just the basic layout, and we have plenty more work to do before we book our tickets to Mars. More importantly, what are your big ideas for Mars?