I embark on this blog to provoke thought from a different perspective. I believe life is all perspective and it is important to modestly and introspectively realize your own. Space programs like NASA are vitally important to the human race. It may be the most important undertaking by intelligent life
witnessed so far. Not only does the program physically and mentally transport us further away from Earth, it brings us closer to understanding who we are. To know we exist as a tiny blue dot endlessly orbiting a gigantic fusion reactor humbles us; we realize how very special this planet is. Our discovery of our insignificance is the very essence of how precious we really are. Commonly thought of as the final frontier, phenomenon like shooting stars, stars, and the sun were previously thought of as the work of some intelligent force, but astronomers soon discovered just how ordered the universe actually is. In fact Cosmos means order. While we may still have a tenuous grasp on the wonders and teachings of the cosmos, humans understand the importance of inquiry; everything we have can be attributed to the Homo Erectus curiously venturing out of Africa some 1.75 million years ago in search of new hunting grounds. The further we move away from our short and fury ancestors to develop our civilization, we slip arrogantly away from the truth that we are still in the adolescence of technology with terrifying capabilities of harnessing the most powerful force known, nuclear. We must learn to live with ourselves before we defend our borders, once we treat the fear behind nation rivalry, wealth disparity, greed, and ego, we may safely remove the threat of destroying ourselves.
I was inspired by the charismatic Carl Sagan when delivering this convoluted message: with the uncertainty that makes life so exciting and beautiful, we run the risk of losing it all if not by our own fault then by some errant asteroid with a lethal collision path. The space program, under proper
guidance and support, can establish a backup colony on some distant territory, under current space travel technology Mars seems the most viable option. This ensures the proliferation of our species should some tragedy occur on Earth. I do not try to sound pessimistic; humans are the greatest creatures that we have ever known to grace the Earth. Presented with a threat to survival I am confident we can overcome it. But I am also not ignorant; history has repeatedly shown its upsets and surprises. To say it will never happen will be to bury our heads in the sand and flip off the dinosaurs simultaneously. I wish only to remain prepared because advent of another colony could take decades to manufacture. Why not have a sturdy backup in case some feisty country with nuclear capabilities 
decides to bring “winter” early. We have a good thing going as intelligent beings. Lets pass on this gift evolution has bestowed on our species, and let future generations develop the unimaginable. I end this post with a quote from Astronaut Edgar Mitchell who recalls his sentiments on life when he stood upon the moon and viewed the Earth from a perspective only the extremely fortunate are honored with, “You develop and instant global consciousness, a people orientation, an intense dissatisfaction with the state of the world, and a compulsion to do something about it. From out there on the moon, international politics look so petty. You want to grab a politician by the scruff of the neck and drag him a quarter of a million miles out and say, 'Look at that, you son of a bitch’”.
Cheers
7 comments:
so interesting, great post!
Living in space would be awesome but also problematic. Does article writer go on to say anything about how we would breath or attain oxygen in space? We barely know enough about our own planet and what lies beneath the depths of the ocean we cannot venture. I say we should fix mother earth, meaning not acting as cancer cells slowly killing off its host, if we wanna prolong our existence. Depleting the earth's blood (oil, natural gasses through fracking ect..) surely can't be good. Infinite growth on a finite planet just doesn't seem logical. okay, i'll stop ranting. Definitely should look into this who space domination thing. Reminds me of manifest destiny, just this time we don't know what we are up against if we leave our planet and explore unknown territories. I shouldn't have said we* while using the manifest destiny analogy. I hard no part in it. Just my ancestors were the ones being slaughter.
also another point I'd like to bring up, in the article I couldn't help but notice a picture with the person "colonizing" under ground?? Do we even know what's under Mars? I hear we found that Mars contains frozen water particles which means the liquid form can probably be found elsewhere. Also, I heard we've found living organisms on Mars, which means we've probably never encounter them before nor do we have the technology to fight off a deadly human eating disease that has the potential to mutate into an unstoppable force. But if their is water on Mars, then from our human knowledge there must being living creatures or organisms that thrive and survive from it (since everything we know on earth needs water to survive). This then brings up another point that we will have competition for this water. The only problem is that we do not know if the competition outweighs our own. Please answer my inquiries to the best of your abilities. you can email me at benmvillarreal@aol.com thank you, look forward to hearing from you
Very good discussion of the purpose and importance of space exploration and colonization.
I would recommend the book 'Entering Space: Creating a Spacefaring Civilization' by Robert Zubrin. He takes an extreme approach on things such as the Mars Direct mission plan, which is a one way trip for the first colonists of Mars, but much of his other discussion on everything from sites in the Solar System for possible colonies to terraforming habitats for humans to the technical challenges behind space travel that need to be solved in the mean time survey a lot of topics about space exploration.
Also take a look at groups such as:
Tau Zero Foundation http://www.tauzero.aero/
National Space Society http://www.nssa.com.au/Pages/nss.html
L5 Society
If you want another idea for a post on a space/science topic, I would like to see a discussion on the ethics/methods of terraforming. How can it be done? What would make a suitable candidate for terraforming? Would we terraform a planet if native life already existed on it? Would we terraform if INTELLIGENT (assuming primitive) life existed on it? It would make for some interesting discussion.
Hi Steve,
Thanks for the feedback, I am writing a post on the science behind choosing Mars. Essentially it will be why and how, as well as examine the psychological effects of a long term confined stay. I agree that a one way trip is necessary for the first adventurers as this would cut cargo space by 80%, perhaps a future post about the current feasibility of a Mars trip is in order. And thanks for the suggestions on the websites and that book, I am always looking for something new.
Thanks,
Jeremy
Ummmm, wow. Eerily similar posts between you and me. But refreshing to see others have the ability to think this way, and that I'm not just strange :)
P.S. that last quote is golden!
it really is isn't it. thanks for your participation on this post. we only want to inspire independent thought like you seem to want as well. there is actually talk about making space travel available to the public, for a huge price of course. crazy right?
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