Google and Virgin Group this morning announced a joint-venture aimed at creating a human settlement on Mars by 2050, in a project the two companies called the Virgle.

"Earth has issues, and it's time humanity got started on a Plan B. So, starting in 2014, Virgin founder Richard Branson and Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin will be leading hundreds of users on one of the grandest adventures in human history," says a statement on the April 1 home page setting up the venture.

The new venture — detailed over several web pages, which have clearly taken up many hours of company time — is already recruiting would-be Mars dwellers through a questionnaire, and directing those interested to study a video made by the founders. It also includes other advisory videos, such as Life on Mars?, by David Bowie.

Google hopes that the initiative will ensure that Mars becomes "an open source planet", presumably before Microsoft and British Airways colonise it, and in a metaphor for the internet land grab, hope to pay pioneers with shares in the company rather than cash in an attempt to save money for rocket fuel.

"We want to engage, one might say, the Long Tail of human creativity. Instead of 5,000 people working 12 hours a day six days a week in exchange for a full salary and benefits, imagine 5 million people working a few hours a week in exchange for contribution-based equity in the form of shares in Virgle Inc and ownership of the land of which the colony will ultimately take some form of possession," says its manifesto.

Pioneers will also have to endure the five-month long voyage with Larry Page and Sergey Brin of Google, and Sir Richard Branson of Virgin in 2014. What is not clear is whether this means that the three will be stepping down from their respective positions, although it will be possible to send and receive emails via satellite over 40 minutes.

Google said that the Virgle websites would be taken down tomorrow, on April 2.

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