Google has partnered with Virgin Group to launch a new joint venture in Virgle, a project owned by the two companies which is dedicated to human settlement on Mars.
Google and Virgin have put together a 100 year plan which intends to :
- Send the first manned journey to Mars by 2016
- Then launch an IPO to “capitalize on the first manned journey to Mars”
- Establish Virgle City on Mars by 2050
- Grow Virgle City’s population to 100,000 by 2108
Virgle Pioneers will be selected by Google and Virgin via an online questionnaire, video submission, personal accomplishments, expertise in scientific, artistic, sociological and/or political fields of endeavor, and inadequate Google and Virgin personal performance reviews.
Apply to become a Virgle Pioneer!
“We feel that ensuring the survival of the human race by helping it colonize a new planet is both a moral good in and of itself and also the most likely method of ensuring the survival of our best – okay, fine, only — base of web search volume and advertising inventory,” Page added. “So, you know, it’s, like, win-win.”
“Some people are calling Virgle an ‘interplanetary Noah’s Ark,'” said Virgin Group President and Founder Sir Richard Branson, who conceived the new venture. “I’m one of them. It’s a potentially remarkable business, but more than that, it’s a glorious adventure. For me, Virgle evokes the spirit of explorers such as Christopher Columbus and Marco Polo, who set sail looking for the New World. I do hope we’ll be a bit more efficient about actually finding it, though.”
Ok, April Fool’s!, but given the different Google April Fools Jokes over the years, this is the most dedicated one (since GMail) and don’t be surprised if one day it comes true AND Brin & Page live long enough to see the 100 Year Plan Out (via either freezing themselves, sleeping in oxygen chambers or developing a Google Time Machine)
