Our Future in Space
Space exploration will forever play an integral part in our future, whether it be in only a decade, a millennium, or even in a billion years. We are driven by countless factors, from curiosity and hope to politics and economy, to push our boundaries and explore the cosmos.
We develop plans for lunar and Martian bases, asteroid mining, and interstellar travel. We analyze the possibilities for artificial gravity, antimatter rockets, and terraforming planets.
In the past, the sky was the limit. Then it was the Solar System. Then the Milky Way Galaxy. Now with Hubble Deep Field, it is the Universe in its entirety. Even the multiverse is not out of the question.
Where exactly do we go from here? The first step in human spaceflight is to return to the moon, a mission which NASA is currently working on called Artemis. Not only will we learn to work in microgravity and lunar gravity, but the moon will serve as our steppingstone to the Solar System beyond. A lunar base will be established, preparing us for a potential Martian base.
And this leads us to Mars, the Red Planet. While Mars has been used for countless research studies, one in particular has captured the public’s eye: the search for life. Water has been found on Mars, and while it is unlikely that we will discover living life forms, we are hoping to uncover evidence of previous life. Even the simplest life form would be a spectacular find, vastly increasing the chances of life being present elsewhere in the Universe and answering definitively the age-old question: are we alone?
But Mars is far from the only place we are looking to detect life. Three moon candidates with liquid water will be closely examined in the coming years: Jupiter’s moons Europa and Ganymede, and Saturn’s moon Enceladus. Beyond moons, water has been detected on two dwarf planets, Ceres and Pluto. And beyond the Solar System, we are searching for key signatures of life on extrasolar planets, or exoplanets.
And with that we venture light years away, where space exploration can only be done through a telescope instead of a rocket. For decades we have been working diligently to unravel the secrets of the cosmos, from dark matter and dark energy to black holes and the Big Bang, and this will most likely continue for as long as human civilization is around.
As a species, we have a need to explore and expand into the unknown, and this leads us to our final question: how far will we go? It is likely we will make it to Mars, and even to the outer reaches of the Solar System. But will we make it beyond? If our civilization is to survive and thrive for billions of years to come, we will be forced out of our oasis, Earth. Earth will slowly loose its habitability over the next couple billion years, drifting ever closer to the Sun, and in five billion years the Sun will become a Red Giant and die, transforming into a white dwarf.
Many people believe that in order to further space exploration, we need more astronauts and rocket scientists. While these jobs are certainly tied to the space industry, they make up only a fraction of this field. If we are to have a future in space, we need researchers, doctors, lawyers, and a great many more. Job specialization applies just as much to outer space as it does down here on Earth. Finally, and just as importantly, we need outreach and public engagement. Growing support for space research and industry will catapult it forward, helping to improve space technology and allowing humans to travel to other worlds.
