Dubai’s ruler launches incredible 100-year plan to build a city for 600,000 people on Mars

On Earth, Dubai boasts the tallest building, the largest artificial island and the biggest shopping mall, which includes an indoor ski resort and a colony of penguins.

Earth, though, has its limits, so the Persian Gulf nation of the United Arab Emirates – of which Dubai is a member – is looking elsewhere.

If all goes as planned, a century from now it will have built a fully functioning city of 600,000 people on Mars.

“We aspire in the coming century to develop science, technology and our youth’s passion for knowledge,” tweeted Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, who is also the UAE’s vice-president and prime minister, when he announced the project – known as “Mars 2117” – this year. “This project is driven by that vision.”

The Emirates has joined an elite club trying to put people on Mars, including the US, China, Russia and a consortium of European nations, along with a private effort by the entrepreneur Elon Musk and his California company SpaceX.

The country is grooming a cadre of young scientists and engineers it hopes will collaborate with international scientists and other academics to figure out the best mode of transportation to Mars and options for food and housing once humans arrive.