Corporate sponsorship 'could fund Mars mission'

Washington, Jan 18 (ANI): Scientists have said that corporate funding could make Mars mission a reality.

One of the biggest obstacle to a potential space mission is finding the almost USD150 billion dollars needed to develop the program.

"With clever marketing and advertising and the subsequent increase in public interest, between USD30 billion to USD 90 billion can be raised through corporate sponsorships, and an additional USD 1 billion a year through individual sponsorships," Fox News quoted Rhawn Joseph, a scientist with the Brain Research Laboratory in California, as saying.

"Other than paying for one of the greatest achievements of all time and the technological revolution that would result, is it worth USD145 billion in expenditures, over a 10-year period, to conquer an entire planet and to lay claim to the vast wealth which may lay beneath the surface?" he asked.

While a Greyhound spokesman said it was too soon to say if the investment would be mutual, ATandT spokesman Mark Siegel echoed these sentiments, noting that the "biggest and most important challenge is serving our customers here on Earth."

Microsoft had no comment, and other companies such as Amtrak, Facebook, Google, Apple, Verizon Wireless, and Tesla Motors either declined to commit or did not immediately respond.

According to Brian Collins, the former chief creative officer at Ogilvy and Mather, the risk is serious.

"What kind of brand would be enhanced by branding this kind of adventure? Brands about discovery, exploration, courage, and risk-taking would be the best fit for something like this," Collins said.

"Brands willing to fit on the adventure side of the equation. But you always have to frame it against, 'what happens if something goes wrong?'"

Collins believes that the right type of person should put the force of their will behind the mission.

"It needs someone with a voice, not a brand. Someone who has a public presence. Steve Jobs with Apple, Larry Ellison with Oracle, Richard Branson with Virgin. Or Jeff Bezos of Amazon.com," he suggested. (ANI)