I Don’t Need These Russians 116
found investors who also were critical to NASA’s abilities
to bring humans to Mars.^4
The idea behind Mars Oasis was to in 2005 launch a
smaller spacecraft and land it on Mars in 2006.^365 Among
other equipment, the spacecraft contained a small green-
house with an enclosed chamber filled with dehydrated nu-
trient gel.^4 Different plants grew in the greenhouse, ranging
from tomato plants to mustard weeds. The purpose was to
test if humans could live off the land, and pictures from
these plants would be transmitted back to Earth. “We’d
have a great photo of green plants with a red background,”
Elon said. “The public tends to respond to precedence
and superlatives. This would be the first life on Mars and
the furthest life had ever traveled. That would get people
excited and increase NASA’s budget. If I could afford it, I
figured it would be a worthy expenditure of money, with
no expectation of financial return.”63,305
Another idea was the Life to Mars project where the
green plants were replaced by mice-astronauts. “Do you
think people would think I’m crazy if I sent mice to Mars?”
Elon asked his friends.^59 With the purpose to see if mice
could breed in an environment similar to the environment
on Mars, the mission would last for six weeks. But the
rodents didn’t have to worry about landing on a planet.
To simulated the gravity on Mars, they lived in a rotating
craft up in space.^287
While NASA’s space missions focuses on geological
research, the theme of these different projects by Elon and
Ressi was to see if humans could live on Mars. “The public