Oceangate co-founder Guillermo Söhnlein is interested in sending 1,000 people to a floating colony on Venus through his company, the Humans2Venus Foundation .
Söhnlein co-founded Oceangate with Stockton Rush in 2009. Söhnlein left Oceangate in 2013.
This grand inspiration is clouded in people’s minds following Oceangates’ Titan tragedy. On 22 June 2023, the US Coast Guard confirmed that the submarine sent to see the remains of the Titanic imploded. The explosion resulted in 5 deaths, including the death of a 19-year-old and his father. The Titan was believed to have drowned a few hours after its descent on 18 June. This story made headlines as the world saw this tragedy unfold before their eyes.
Even if Söhnlein has not been part of Oceangate for a long time, the links are already present in people’s minds. The extravagant nature of this expedition is similar to that of the Titan.
The recent tragedy has not seemed to quench Söhnlein's thirst for innovation. Söhnlein is planning to send 1000 people to live on the planet Venus in a floating colony. Venus has often been dubbed ‘Earth’s Evil Twin.” Venus has attributed this title, as Nasa’s Director for Planetary Science explains, both planets are roughly the same size,were formed in the same inner part of the solar system and share a plethora of similar minerals and materials. However, both planets' evolution went in dramatically different ways. Venus is the warmest planet in the Solar System, is engulfed in sulphuric acid and carbon dioxide, and the atmosphere's pressure is 90 times stronger than Earth’s, making it unhabitable for life.
However, even knowing this, Söhnlein is still interested in the prospect of creating this floating colony on Venus. Söhnlein is relying on a theory to make his idea work. In theory, there is a sliver of Venus’s atmosphere, about 30 miles from its surface, which may be habitable. This is because the temperature and pressure are significantly lower in this small slice of the Venusian atmosphere.
To make this idea work, Söhnlein would have to build a floating colony that could survive the sulphuric acid in the air.
Söhnlein believes that a floatable colony could inhabit this sliver of the atmosphere by 2050.
However, no clear plans have yet been made. Following the recent tragedy, it may be difficult for people and investors to trust this project and put their faith in a co-founder of a company now synonymous with disaster.
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