Space has always been the final frontier but when man landed on the Moon 50 years ago, it was felt that we’d conquered all that was possible. There had been occasional talk about travel to Mars but the Red Planet is some 33.9 Million miles away from Earth – depending on orbits – and surely that was beyond human endeavour.
Fast forward to 2019 and talk of travel to Mars is intensifying but is it seriously possible? If you have your own opinion and are active in novelty betting, you may just be interested in a choice of new space markets, many of which focus on our quest to visit the Red Planet.
Space Specials Betting and Odds Preview
Mars Awaits
Not every available space betting market relates to Mars but the majority of current options are focused on the Red Planet. It should also be noted that like most novelty bets, not every bookmaker has got on board but we have a decent selection here from respected bookies who provide competitive odds across all of their offerings.
The first market involves Humans walking on Mars and in this case, there are deadlines set by the sportsbooks in question. The first of these is set at the end of 2025 which would give us around six years from the time of writing to conquer this new world.
And the odds for this to happen? LV BET and EnergyBet are fairly optimistic with their price of 39/5 while Ladbrokes and Coral are big doubters at 25/1. Clearly you’ll want to take the longer of those two figures but if you want to vote ‘No’ EnergyBet and LV BET are your only options at 1/25.
The second option here is for Humans to walk on Mars by the end of 2030. At this point, EnergyBet and LV BET drop out leaving us with Ladbrokes and Coral who are both quoting odds of 5/1.
Those are the two options in terms of time limits but that’s not it as far as Mars Travel is concerned. Coral and Ladbrokes go 10/11 on the first human to walk on the Red Planet being female. There is no male equivalent for this bet but clearly those two bookies are looking for a woman to set foot first.
Finally, both LV BET and EnergyBet have a market on which company will be the first to put a human being on Mars. SpaceX is the clear favourite in this respect and both operators list them at 3/10. Following on are Blue Origin at 61/20, Boeing at 5/1 and finally, we have the US Space Force at 11/1.
Lunar Conquests
While the Moon was first conquered back in 1969, it retains a small foothold in the current list of space betting markets. The one solitary bet available in this respect is the 1/2 offered by Coral and Ladbrokes on the next person to walk on the Moon to be female.
It would be a small step or a giant leap for the gender balance to be evened up but that is quite a short price for anyone looking to get involved.
That covers the list of Space Travel bets as we head towards the end of 2019 but can we possibly find some winners amongst it all?
Verdict
It’s not rocket science: Well actually it is and while we’re not exactly experts in space travel, we don’t expect that many of our readers will be either. In that case, we should be researching articles and see what the qualified observers think before we start to take a punt.
In regards to the Moon bet, you could be waiting a long time for your bet to be settled. Gene Cernan was the 11th, and at the time of writing, the last person to walk on the Moon in 1972 and there doesn’t seem to be too many plans for a repeat.
However, according to the Universe Today website, it’s not a case of if we will colonize the Moon but when. Talk of humans living on the Moon has continued for a while as the Earth gets overpopulated but the reality still seems a long way away. And, as we’ve already stated, those odds of 1/2 just look too short to hold any interest.
So, we move on to Mars. Once again, you’re not likely to get a quick return on your outlay but the benefit of placing long term ante post bets lies in the value. These odds can only go down in the months and years to come but, of course, to take full advantage of that value we need to actually pick some winners.
We’ll start with the gender of the first human to walk on the surface of Mars and it wouldn’t take a big leap of faith to assume that they will be female. Women’s issues have been widely promoted in many areas and it would be a big and positive PR stunt if this were to happen.
As for the deadlines, this is really tough to call. If we go back to the start of 2018, it was widely reported that a human mission could be planned for 2023 when Mars and the Earth were at their closest points. However, stories emerged in April 2019 suggesting that this would be put back by some ten years. There are so many conflicting reports around right now and while there are some tempting prices from Coral and Ladbrokes in particular, we wouldn’t be comfortable telling you to stake on a winner.
The company behind Mars travel market is more interesting and there could be a decent profit to be had here. SpaceX was founded by Elon Musk who is a big advocate of Mars travel and they would seem to be an obvious pick. However, the Blue Origin firm have also worked closely with NASA and it wouldn’t be a shock if they were given the nod. Owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Blue Origin have got our backing although once again, you may be waiting for some considerable time before you can collect a profit.
Best Bets:
- The first human to walk on Mars to be female at 10/11 with Coral
- Blue Origin to be the Company to put the first human on Mars at 61/20 with LV BET