Space

I’ve been thinking about space lately.  Actually, I think about space all the time.  I’m kinda obsessed.  I’m writing about it today because Commander Chris Hadfield is leaving the ISS today.  He’s been living an adventure for five months, and he has been gracious enough to share his thoughts while in space, and he’s been sending us amazing photos, educational videos, and even a music video cover of Space Oddity.  

This is the type of explorer that makes other people want to follow.

And so many do want to follow.  We want to go farther, higher.  We want to stay out there longer.  We want to live out there.  It’s why humans left Africa.  There was something else over the horizon.  We are so damn curious and eager for adventure.  There are plans to go to Mars and start a permanent colony.  One of the plans calls for a one-way trip.  They are asking people to go to Mars and never come back.  Permanent settlers.  Like those who took to the sea for another land on the other side.  There was no coming back.  It will be the same.

I think this is something we must do if we intend for humans to carry on.  Right now, we have all of our eggs in one basket.  We are all on Earth.  Mars, The Moon, Europa; any of them could support a settlement once it gets started.  We are clever and tenacious.  We will invent new technologies once we need them.  We will find out how to get there faster.  We will find out how to live off the land.  We can make the universe our home.

Increasingly, we cannot count on governments to do this for us.  NASA and the Soviet space program were instrumental in developing the basic technologies for spacefaring.  But now, private companies or organizations can build upon and improve that technology.  I think it’s the best way to do it, since companies are going to be more efficient in building and sourcing parts.  They won’t waste a thing.  And they’ll be just as committed as a government agency in making sure it succeeds.

Would you take a trip to Mars?  Would you like to be a pioneer?  I think I would.