Filipinos on Mars? Of course!

 (Published in ENRICH magazine, 2022)

THERE WILL BE FILIPINOS on Mars by the 22nd century. Absolutely.

Nothing will stop those with designs on Mars such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the United States, SpaceX and The Mars Society from transforming (and later terraforming) the Red Planet into "Earth 2.0" by building cities that will ultimately house millions of Earthlings by the next century.

The laborious process of planetary colonization is optimistically expected to begin by the late second-half of this century after the first humans set foot on Mars, probably during the decade of the 2030s. The UAE, the only government thus far with concrete plans to build a Martian city, and The Mars Society, have said qualified citizens from all countries are welcome to inhabit future cities on Mars.

This invitation also extends to Filipinos. Who knows? One of your grandchildren or great grandchildren might be among the first Filipino immigrants to Mars. But it won’t be easy convincing Pinoys to move to Mars.

On the long trek to Mars, these courageous Filipinos will be bombarded by deadly cosmic radiation; have their health endangered by prolonged weightlessness and their mental health tortured by the absence of any meaningful social life. Life on Mars will be very challenging, to say the least.

Mars itself has high levels of lethal cosmic radiation (a deadly 230 millisieverts per year versus a tame 6.2 millisieverts on Earth); a suffocating 96% carbon dioxide atmosphere and a sub-zero average temperature of around -63°C. There’s also the health dangers posed by Mars’ gravity, which is only 38% that of Earth’s.

Now, by what name shall we call our brave Filipino Martians who will endure the arduous seven month-long, 480 million kilometer voyage to get to live on the fourth rock from the Sun?

The word “Mars tigasin” (“Mars tough”) comes to mind. Or the shorter “Ma-tigasin.” They could also be called “Mars-tapang” (“Mars Brave”), a play on the word “matapang” (“brave”). I salute all of them.

Photo of the Jezero Crater on Mars taken by the NASA Perseverance rover

AGI

Filipinos and other humans, however, probably won't be the first to inhabit Mars in numbers. That honor is likely reserved for robots animated by either "Artificial General Intelligence" (AGI) or "Artificial Superintelligence" (ASI).

Artificial intelligence (AI), the “mother” machine intelligence of both AGI and ASI, allows a machine to learn, reason and self-correct as it interacts with the world. In the context of Martian colonization, AI will also help keep people safe by identifying potential dangers. One must always recall Mars is a planet that’s absolutely deadly to humans.

These intelligent machines will pave the way for the safe arrival and survival of humans on the Red Planet. Helper AIs won’t be just any robot like NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover now trekking Mars, but machines infused with AGI that can make more complex decisions and act on them.

It takes a command signal from Earth some 20 minutes traveling at the speed of light to reach a rover on Mars. This means rovers can't immediately react to unexpected situations that arise on the Red Planet and need AI to meet this challenge.

Perseverance (or Percy) comes equipped with a type of AI called "Artificial Narrow Intelligence" (ANI). Its ANI, for example, helps Percy avoid obstacles detected by its 23 digital cameras without waiting for commands from NASA.

Narrow AI, as it’s also called, is the most common AI variant and the one in widespread use today. It was given the name Narrow AI because it can only carry out one task at a time but can do so very well. Examples of Narrow AI are Google Search; smart voice assistants such as Apple's Siri and self-driving cars developed by Waymo LLC, a sister company of Google, Inc.

Ongoing space exploration missions by the European Union and the United States, for example, use AI and machine learning capabilities in their operations. AI plays a key role in mission planning, autonomous navigation and maneuvering without the need for ground control and spacecraft maintenance.

AGI thinks, therefore it is

AGI, the colonizer

On the other hand, the more advanced type of AI called AGI will be needed to help humans colonize Mars. AGI refers to an AI that can perform a range of cognitive tasks such as thinking and reasoning at levels similar to or better than humans.

AGI is expected to transform future spacecraft carrying humans to Mars into fully cognitive machines capable of making critical decisions in flight without relying on commands from the Earth. Untethering from the Earth will also give colonists more time to perform essential functions such as surviving deep space.

Still a work in progress, AGI is expected to become a useful reality by the 2050s. It's slated to pilot the first interstellar probe bound for the nearby galaxy, Alpha Centauri, under NASA's 2069 Alpha Centauri mission.

The question facing NASA and its ken is whether to wait for AGI (also called Deep AI) to come online before sending people to live on Mars en masse. The high stakes involved in transplanting humans to Mars countenance caution, however. The overriding need to not strew the road to Mars with mangled human corpses seems to indicate AGI machines will get to live there first.

ASI

"What are the chances that the First Martian is an AGI or an ASI?" asked SpaceX CEO and ardent Martian colonist Elon Musk back in December 2018.

In his earlier musings, Musk was adamant humans would be the first on Mars. Alongside this fantasy are his ludicrous claims of sending the first crewed mission to Mars by 2024 and using robots to build a base for humans on the planet before 2030. Extended delays in developing SpaceX's Starship/SuperHeavy rockets that will become the space taxis for Mars' colonization have put paid to these ambitions.

Musk has since matured into adulthood following these statements. He now declares there's a 30% chance the first inhabitants of Mars will be ASI machines. The ultimate type of AI, an ASI has cognitive abilities superior to humans and will be capable of complete autonomy. No successful colonization of Mars is possible without ASI.

AGI or ASI machines will prepare the way for the eventual colonization of Mars. They will build the first human habitats on Mars (either by 3D printing or assembling them), as well as the other necessary infrastructure such as oxygen generators humans will need to survive upon setting foot on this hostile planet. It's clear it will take both humans and AI to colonize Mars safely.

"There isn't a battle between robots and humans -- that's comparing apples and oranges," said Dr. James Garvin, chief scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.

"We send the robots as our pathfinders and scouts, and they open the frontiers so that we can decide where and when to send the people."

MELTANT-α

Humanoid AI robots such as future versions of the "MELTANT-α (Alpha)" avatar AI robot from Japan will likely be sent to Mars to assist in building planetary infrastructure. MELTIN MMI, the Japanese firm developing MELTANT-α, describes its creation as "a cyborg that transcends boundaries."

MELTANT-α will possess one huge advantage over all other AI robots: its human-like hands that can do most of the things a human hand can do. Using “the world’s most powerful and flexible robotic hands,” MELTANT-α will build Mars bases, repair equipment and even perform surgery on human astronauts.

The key to this cyborg’s human-like hands is its unique bio-signal processing algorithm that allows for highly-accurate real-time analyses of hand movements.  The algorithm can process 12 types of complex movements. It can also create motions closely similar to that of human hands "while adding flexibility, speed, power, durability and accuracy. This technology can be 'another body' to use anywhere in the world." Or on other worlds.

Bio-signals are the electrical signals passing through our body’s nervous system. It allows us to move our limbs, and enables our brains to receive information from our senses.

In September 2018, Japan announced its intent to explore the Moon and Mars by deploying MELTANT and its future iterations.  Avatar robots will also make possible extremely long-distance missions to the outer planets of our Solar System -- and the exploration of nearby galaxies such as Alpha Centauri and Proxima Centauri -- without placing Japanese astronauts in harm's way.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is partnering with MELTIN and other Japanese firms to develop MELTANT-α. The partners have begun full-scale development on the MELTANT-α avatar robot for deployment in space.

Illustration of MELTANT-α  on the Moon with a Japanese lunar rover

“Wisdom” on Mars

MELTANT-α and its AI brethren will play the key role in building cities on Mars inside which humans can exist and thrive while being protected from a planet that wants to kill them. There is no shortage of concepts for Martian cities, but among those making waves today are the UAE’s city, tentatively named “Wisdom,” and the city-state called "Nüwa" from The Mars Society.

On February 14, 2017, the tiny but oil-rich UAE startled the space community by announcing its stunning plan to become the first country on Earth to build the first habitable Martian city by 2117. In sheer size, ambition and boldness, the city of Wisdom dwarfs any existing plan to colonize Mars. In contrast, NASA only intends to establish small surface bases that will house fewer than a dozen scientists at a time.

Wisdom will initially be home to hundreds of people and later to 600,000 humans. Emirati engineers and scientists agree their city will be built by AI robots. Building Wisdom is part of the UAE’s multinational “Mars 2117 Project,” which has a lifespan of 100 years.

"The landing of people on other planets has been a longtime dream for humans. Our aim is that the UAE will spearhead international efforts to make this dream a reality," said Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

Nüwa

In March 2021, the Spanish architectural firm ABIBOO Studio based in Madrid presented a concept based on the latest scientific research for a Martian city-state of five cities, whose capital will be called "Nüwa.” ABIBOO was one among many firms that submitted entries to the Martian cities project organized by The Mars Society and developed by the SONet network, an international team of scientists and academics. Nüwa, or the Empress Wa, is the creator of all humankind in Chinese mythology.

Nüwa, a self-sufficient, excavated, “vertical city,” is expected to accommodate more than one million humans by the 22nd century. Scientists say a rocky Martian cliff on the southern edge of the "Tempe Mensa" region located in the Valles Marineris hemisphere just south of the Martian equator is an ideal site for Nüwa.

The vertical cities will be built into the sides of cliffs in order to protect residents from deadly cosmic radiation, extreme temperatures and the planet’s low atmospheric pressure that will quickly boil the blood of humans unprotected by space suits.

Nuwa, the city state on Mars

The cities will feature self-sustained “macro-buildings” built 150 meters inside the cliff rock. Each building, which will be two-storey’s tall, will accommodate up to 4,440 people. The modular macro-buildings will have green areas, urban gardens with animals and pools of water, and spaces dedicated to the arts. The tubular modules will be 10 meters in diameter and 60 meters long.

Manufacturing, industrial sites, food factories, and energy production facilities will be built at the top of the cliff or at the bottom of the valley. Energy will be generated by massive solar arrays. Nüwa’s precious oxygen will largely be produced by plants, and because of this, Nüwans will have a 90% plant-based diet.

"We had to do a lot of analysis based on computing and working with the scientists to try to understand what are the circumstances that we will face," noted ABIBOO founder Alfredo Muñoz.

He believes building the Nüwa city-state is doable from the technical standpoint. He said what will take time is convincing people from around the world to live on Mars despite the immense dangers they’ll face on the journey to the planet and when they live there.

Construction of Nüwa might start as early as 2054 and should be completed by 2100 when the first colonists arrive to start living there.

Part of the city state of Nüwa

As for SpaceX, its role will consist solely of transporting settlers to Mars. It now has no intention of constructing a Martian metropolis housing up to one million people.

Eschewing city building is a departure from Musk’s stand in 2016 when he said: "We're figuring out how to take you to Mars and build a self-sustaining city to become a truly multiplanetary species." Musk previously called his city “the next giant leap for humanity.”

But we do know this early SpaceX plans to charge each brave Earthling $200,000 for a seat on Starship/SuperHeavy, which will transport 100 immigrants to Mars at a time. That immense cost will drop to $100,000, claims Musk.

The NASA Perseverance rover now on Mars has an AI brain.

 

 

Are there Flying Cars in our future?

 (Published in ENRICH Magazine, 2021)

PILOTLESS "FLYING CARS" soaring above terrestrial city traffic jams and an interplanetary rocket that can zoom passengers from New York City to Shanghai, China in a scant 40 minutes are set to redefine short- and long-distance air travel over the next two decades.

The need for convenience is driving this ongoing revolution in on-demand air mobility. Long a staple of science fiction and futuristic cartoons like The Jetsons, flying cars will eventually transform the way people commute, work and live within the latter half of this century.

But the first generation flying cars set to ferry their first passengers within this decade look nothing like the sleek and gravity-defying flying cars of fiction, such as "spinners" in the 2017 Hollywood movie, Blade Runner 2049.

The brave first steps into the flying car future are being taken by aviation and tech startups in China and Europe eager to get their self-flying cars, or intelligent aerial vehicles, into commercial service within this decade.

In the process, these companies are on the road to realizing Jules Verne’s prediction of a flying car he made in his dark novel, Master of the World, published in 1904.

Jules Verne's Terror flying car

Verne's hybrid flying "Transformer," which he named "Terror," is a 10 meter-long vehicle that can turn into an aircraft, automobile, speedboat and submarine. Verne wrote Terror has a land speed of 240 km/h and more than 320 km/h in flight, which were speeds considered science fiction back in 1904.

Verne's book written in French saw print less than a year after the Wright Brothers' first powered flight of the Wright Flyer heavier-than-air aircraft at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina on Dec. 17, 1903.

Pilotless electric air taxis

These revolutions in short- and long-distance air travel should come to fruition before the 2050s are out. Flying cars, however, will enter commercial service before Starship does.

The challenge facing today's flying car firms is making their autonomous aerial vehicles (AAVs) safe and reliable "air taxis." Practically all flying cars in development are autonomous or pilotless helicopters powered by anywhere from four to 36 electric motors. Hence, the technical name "eVTOL" or electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft appended to them. These aircraft are also called personal helicopters, among others.

Only a few flying cars like the PAL-V Liberty Pioneer from Dutch firm PAL-V resemble a wheeled passenger car with wings. Most of the rest, such as the German "Lilium Jet," the Chinese "EHang EH216" and Japan's "SkyDrive SD-03" are eVTOL smart aerial drones powered by multiple electric motors.

Lilium Jet

Many of the eVTOLs now under development by more than 20 firms worldwide are designed as autonomous urban air taxis for inter-city and intra-city flights that banish the need for road travel with all its pitfalls.

Taking the lead in the race to commercialize flying cars as air taxis are startups in Germany and China. Among the most dedicated are the German firm Lilium GmbH and Beijing Yi-Hang Creation Science & Technology Co., Ltd., better known as EHang.

Both startups have been at it for more than five years with Lilium planning to launch its on-demand air taxi and ride-sharing service using its 36-motor Lilium Jet in 2025. It will launch this service in New York City.

The five-seat commuter plane was first flight tested at Oberpfaffenhofen airfield near Munich. After 100 flights, Lilium Jet transitioned from vertical to horizontal flight in October 2019, reaching over 100 km/h. Lilium calls its AAV the "world's five-seater, all-electric, vertical take-off and landing jet."

Lilium Jet aims to become the world's first on-demand air taxi and ride-sharing air aircraft by 2025. This eVTOL can travel 300 kilometers in 60 minutes at 300 km/h. It seats four passengers and a pilot.

Lilium Jet is unique because it relies completely on 100% renewable electric power for propulsion. Lilium said its jet is the only electric plane capable of both vertical take-off and jet-powered flight.

One of the oldest firms in the game is German startup Volocopter GmbH, whose first flying car made its first flight in November 2013. The latest iteration of the company's eVTOL, the Volocopter 2X, was one of the centers of attention at the April 2021 Shanghai International Automobile Industry Exhibition.

Volocopter 2X is a two-seat, optionally-piloted, multi-rotor eVTOL. Volocopter eVTOLs have established a reputation for safety and low noise due to their rotor design.

The small size of rotor blades is the key reason for the low noise generated by Volocopter 2X. Flying at an altitude of 100 meters, passengers can hardly hear the sounds of the rotors turning.

Chinese and Japanese air cars

EHang planned to launch the world's first autonomous air taxi -- the two-seat EHang EH216 -- in Guangzhou, China in 2020 but postponed this milestone due to the COVID-19 outbreak and internal problems.

The EH216 drone taxi is being touted by EHang as the key to its global urban air mobility ambitions. It will serve as a passenger transport, take passengers on aerial sightseeing tours, and conduct aerial logistics flights.

The EH216 aerial taxi has a maximum speed of 160 km/h and a cruising speed of 130 km/h. It can reach out to 16 km. The aircraft is designed to carry a pilot and a passenger and is powered by eight electric motors driving 16 propellers.

EHang 216 flying car

In February 2021, EHang said the EH216 had conducted over 10,000 flights in over 40 Chinese and foreign cities. The Civil Aviation Administration of China in April 2021 established a type certificate team to evaluate EH216.

In November 2020, EHang flew a demonstrator EH216 air taxi in Seoul and other South Korean cities. The EH216 successfully flew for seven minutes at an altitude of 50 meters above Seoul.

It was the first time an pilotless eVTOL developed for use as an air taxi has flown above Seoul. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport plans to launch an air taxi service in Seoul as early as 2025.

It plans to open 10 air taxi terminals nationwide by 2030. South Korea is developing a "K-drone traffic management system" to manage eVTOLs flying along its new aerial highways.

In 2017, Dubai should have been the first country to launch an air taxi service along with EHang. The Chinese startup partnered with Dubai's Road & Transportation Agency in 2017 to launch a hover taxi service starting later that year but nothing came of this project and it was later abandoned.

 Chinese electric vehicle startup Xpeng or Xiaopeng Motors unveiled a prototype of a flying car at the 2020 Beijing International Automotive Exhibition in September and plans to see a maiden test flight by the second half of 2021.

The still unnamed flying car now in the concept phase has eight propellers and can carry two passengers. It's designed for low altitude flights of only five to 25 meters above the ground.

Another company that plans to launch its own flying car is two year-old Japanese startup SkyDrive. The company received a huge boost in August 2020 with a $36 million investment from 10 companies, which include Japanese tech multinational NEC Corporation and major trading firm, Itochu Corporation.

The money has gone to further the development of its eVTOL, the SkyDrive SD-03, which is also the world's smallest eVTOL. SD-03 conducted its first successful public test flight in Tokyo in August 2020. The single-seat eVTOL measures 2 meters in height by 4 meters in both width and length. SkyDrive intends to launch its flying car in Japan by 2023.

SkyDrive SD-03 prototype

SD-03 is designed as a coupé "embodying dreams and exuding charisma," said the company. Its exterior is pearl white. a color chosen because it represents white birds and floating clouds.  SkyDrive hopes SD-03 will become the "people's partner in the sky" rather than merely a commodity like a car.

Some of the other startups involved in the flying car race:

* Joby Aviation based in California is developing a five-seater air taxi eVTOL it claims will enter commercial service in 2024. Its eVTOLs will initially provide air taxi services to airports. A trip from Manhattan to the John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens, New York will cost from $30 to $40 per passenger.

In December 2020, Joby acquired Uber Elevate, the flying-car business of ride-hailing giant, Uber Technologies, Inc, to advance its air txi service.  It plans to open air taxi networks in Los Angeles and Miami by 2024.

The Joby eVTOL will be a four-passenger commercial aircraft with a pilot and three passengers. It can reach up to 240 km on a single charge at a top speed of 320 km/h. Near-silent in flight, the Joby air taxi will be 100 times quieter during takeoff and landing than a helicopter. Joby has a $1 billion deal to supply United Airlines and a partner airline with 200 of its eVTOLs.

* Unlike most other flying cars, the PAL-V Liberty Pioneer (Personal Air and Land Vehicle) looks like a car but with wings attached. PAL-V is a car and gyroplane combination aircraft called the "world's first flying car." 

Dutch firm PAL-V based in Raamsdonksveer, The Netherlands, said the "PAL-V Liberty is a groundbreaking product that inaugurates the age of the flying car. The PAL-V Liberty is a marriage between safety and fun, designed to satisfy the most demanding customers."

This hybrid is a compact two-person aircraft that can travel on public roads. The PAL-V Liberty Pioneer first flew in March 2012 and began being marketed in February 2017. The production model was first shown to the public at the Geneva Motor Show in Switzerland in March 2018.

The world's first passenger spaceship

And there's the revolutionary Starship/Super Heavy interplanetary rocket currently being developed by SpaceX to take people to Mars. SpaceX, however, intends to make money off Starship by turning this rocket into a commercial passenger spaceship flying to select countries at record-breaking speed.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is pushing ahead with his grand dream of transforming Starship into the world's fastest passenger aircraft. Traveling at more than hypersonic speed, or beyond Mach 5 (6,000 km/h), Starship will cover the 12,000 km distance from New York City to Shanghai in a breath-taking 40 minutes compared to the 15 hours on today's passenger jets.

"Fly to most places on Earth in under 30 mins and anywhere in under 60," boasted Musk back in 2017 about Starship's "earth-to-earth" flights.

Starship, which is designed to transport up to 100 persons to Mars per trip by the decade of the 2030s or 2040s, will fly 100 paying passengers to distant destinations on our planet. Starship will take-off and land at massive launch/landing sites converted from oil drilling rigs that float on the ocean.

Starship Super Heavy rocket from SpaceX

In June 2020, Musk tweeted SpaceX planned to build “floating, superheavy-class spaceports for Mars, moon & hypersonic travel around Earth.”

At launch, Super Heavy (or the first stage booster) lugs more than nine million pounds of liquid fuel. It generates dangerous sonic booms and vibrations when it takes-off and lands, making it necessary to move launch pads onto the ocean for the safety of people and infrastructure nearby.

Musk said SpaceX plans to launch and land Starship/Super Heavy several times a day when its space and earth-to-earth transport business goes into high gear over the next two decades.