If you are planning a trek across space anytime soon, don’t forget to pack the Federation hand book. Or, may the Force be with you. You may need some guidance as there are many factors to consider when Homo sapiens launch out across the cosmos.
Exploration of space has been, and will be; only slightly different from our explorations of everywhere else humanity has gone. Charting new worlds, sharing our hope, and our spirit, goes hand in hand with plundering of resources, looking for wealth, exterminating, or at least endangering and/or inviting, other exo-organisms in swaps with those found here on our planet. We have yet to overcome some of these tendencies.
We are a profoundly inquisitive species, but we do have much to learn in order to keep our technology constructive rather than destructive. We have built amazing rockets, discovered life saving medicines. We developed the wheel and the IPod. We made wonderful libraries, and nanotechnology that holds great promise. We have also created Atomic bombs, Chernobyl, slavery, and biological warfare. We, sadly, have been responsible for tremendous extermination, of native peoples, plants, and animals, as well as pollution. We will do better, but we’ll need some psychological tools to take.
Just as Stephen Hawking revealed recently that we should not expect alien extraterrestrials to behave any differently from Inquisition conquistadores; we will explore, but we are wise to be prudent.
A huge factor illustrated prominently in this article title is that we still say “man’s” desire to explore outer space. It’s been over fifty years, guys! Even by the 1980’s Star Trek switched from “To boldly go where no MAN has gone before” to: “Boldly go where NO ONE has gone before.” Does Uhura still have to wear a sexy mini skirt to get any respect? When we recognize the benefits of cooperation over hierarchy and dominance, we will be on the right launch pad so to speak. Don’t worry nerdy geeks, women will still be sexy.
Not that it will help you at all. Sorry.
Diversity matters, but it’s not the only thing. We also have to factor in, attention to the slightest detail. Challenger blew up and it was largely due to a system where promotion and marketing, were a priority. The hierarchy of who needed to be most right ,was chosen over the wisdom of what lowly engineers knew to be most critical. Challenger broke our hearts because we picked a wonderfully diverse crew. We had a black, an Asian, two women, and three white men. Most importantly, one of the women was not an astronaut, but a teacher, representative of an average citizen meant to inspire millions of earth based children. That kinda went wrong as a PR stunt. We have been phasing out the shuttle transport system ever since. Our motives must be factored in everywhere we boldly go.
Astronauts were once heroes, brave pioneers with the right stuff. But they are only the frontier scouts. More real heroes will be pioneers, families, laborers, craftsmen (and women) teachers and more, that become colonists. It will be important that they are extremely courageous, more than that they are seekers of fame, fortune, and hero worship. The right stuff will be patience, persistence, an intense determination to keep minds active, ability to fight off cabin fever, room-mate squabbles, and maintain positive mental health. In other words Ego-maniacs and Divas, need not apply. We love you Captain Kirk, but perhaps you could best help out by continuing those Price-line commercials, and book us some Cygnus OB3 system deals.
A final factor will be cost benefit analysis and practicality. If we can learn from Nature’s laws and models how to employ solar energy for things like solar sails, grow food as we go, harness solar wind, gravity, and even nuclear forces as energy drives, we can afford to go. This is still years away. Scientists are only now applying ways to make earth energy here clean, renewable, and non-threatening. We have yet to learn how to get along with earth organisms in mutually beneficial relationships before we blast off.
Nature’s laws, as all scientists know, but often politicians and publicists ignore, must always be a factor in any expensive endeavor, no matter how noble. When we align ourselves with cooperating and learning from nature, we prosper, as does nature.
There is no practical way, for example to believe our present technology could keep up with launching over 400,000 people per day into space. That is the number of human beings born each day. So leaving this overpopulated planet trashed, in order to go find a pristine one, is not a good idea. Birth control is more direct than rocket ships, (no matter how many nifty missiles we have). When it comes to solving the huge weight of our presence, no matter where that presence will go next we must eliminate our untidy baggage before we go.
Breeding out of control must be solved first. It’s too bad rockets remind everyone of sex. We may need to switch over to blobbier looking spacecraft with Emdrive, (reliant upon microwave radiation), fission, or ion engines and/or radioisotope nuclear-electric power.
We have to consider the factor of religion, politics, costs, and who pays for all the raw materials required for an extensive space program. International cooperatives, and private institutions will help enormously with this, but we must always factor in who benefits, why, and how?
For those of us inspired to be space colonists, the most important factor of all is that we learn. We can inspire children everywhere to become literate in science, math, and technology. We can learn about our Universe, nature’s laws, beauty and wonder, and most of all, we can learn about ourselves.
