NASA’s Perseverance Rover is due to land on the Red Planet on February 18, 2021, as part of the US space agency’s mission to Mars 2020. It is the most advanced spacecraft ever sent to Mars and will help you determine if the planet was once habitable before Collect key data to help NASA prepare for future human missions on the planet. It is seen as a key step towards colonization, as scientists warn that Earth’s resources are dwindling.
And incredible images from Professor Hawking’s documentary “Into the Universe” reveal that the physicist already planned everything more than a decade ago.
He said: “One day I think it will be possible to drastically change the conditions on Mars – maybe using space mirrors to provide heat and energy.
“With perfectly predictable technology, it could become much more.
“If we could raise huge glass and plastic domes to block radiation, we could enrich the atmosphere.
“In 500 years, which is a short time, I think Mars will have its own language, its own currency, its own cuisine – although I bet you’ll be able to get a burger somewhere.
“It is clear that as the universe begins to age, even such progress will not be enough to guarantee the existence of humanity for a very long time.”
Prof. Hawking, who died in 2018, did not believe that Mars could serve as a home for long.
Scientists believed that a mysterious form of energy, known as dark energy, would one day destroy space.
Dark energy causes the speed of expansion of our universe to accelerate over time, rather than slow down.
READ MORE: China’s “True Intentions” for Space Revealed Against Fear of “Gold Rush” on Moon
This theory revolves around dark energy weakening over time, allowing gravity to take over and push the universe back to where it all began – with the Big Bang.
But Prof Hawking had an alternative explanation.
He added: “I think a Big Chill is what we have in store. It is not a big crisis.
“So this will be the end of us and of life as we know it? Or will we figure out how to navigate a new universe before?
“I think we will only know after we truly understand why the universe exists.
“Perhaps when we finally solve the whole cosmic puzzle, we will become masters – not just of our own universe, but of the universe next to it.”