Project Virgle was Google’s 2008 April Fools’ plan to settle Mars.
Announced on April 1, 2008, Virgle was presented as a joint venture between Google and Virgin Group. Its fictional objective was to establish a permanent human settlement on Mars, with Richard Branson, Larry Page, and Sergey Brin portrayed as leaders of the ambitious project.
The parody included an elaborate “100 Year Plan.” It imagined selecting Virgle Pioneers, sending a crew to Mars, founding a Martian municipality called Virgle City, and eventually creating a self-sustaining civilization with more than 100,000 residents. Visitors could even complete an online questionnaire to assess their suitability as pioneers.
The planet is sometimes confused with Google’s other space-themed projects, including Google Moon and Google Mars. Those were mapping and visualization projects, whereas Virgle was a fictional colonization venture. The name itself blended Virgin and Google.