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POSITIVE VISION FOR HUMANS IN SPACE
POSITIVE VISION FOR HUMANS IN SPACE
The key point here is, that while we continue to explore other places in the solar system with robots, we start with the Moon, for humans, as a place of great interest in its own right, and not just as a step on the way to Mars.
This is an important part of the vision, so I'll open out by talking about how interesting the Moon is, in some detail. It's our first place to explore on foot outside of Earth, and a gateway for humans to Mars, Venus, Mercury, the asteroids, Jupiter's moon Callisto, and further afield. If we develop the ability to live in space for years at a time on the Moon, then the whole of the solar system will open out to us, and we won’t need to be focused on humans to Mars as the only option.
Artist's concept of a permanent lunar base, credit ESA.
Screenshot from ESA Destination Moon video.
YOUTUBE VIDEO
Destination: Moon
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•Jan 19, 2015
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This 8-minute film gives an overview of the past, present, and future of Moon exploration, from the Lunar cataclysm to ESA’s vision of what Lunar exploration could be. Why is the Moon important for science? What resources does the Moon have? Is there water? Why should we go back and how will we do it?
08:32
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xe_nuRMH30c&feature=youtu.be
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In this article I use "space settlement" as the more general term, to refer to any humans living in space in permanent or semi-permanent bases, as they do in Antarctica - and space colonization for some later stage when they may become more self sufficient and also have children born in space.
It is likely to be a progression, first with outposts only temporarily inhabited. Then bases, like an Antarctic base. At some point, perhaps quite early, these become materially self sufficient in many things, able to produce all their own food, recycle their water, and produce power and even fuel for their rockets in situ. But they would be dependent on Earth for other things like spacesuits, computer chips, clothes, experimental apparatus, and any other complex machines and hard to manufacture materials. At some point we get the first children born in space, and then we may get the beginnings of true colonization.
But, I argue, colonization is perhaps not the best goal to have in the early stages. We may miss many opportunities if we make this our main aim, rather in the same way that if the early Antarctic explorers had had as their main aim to colonize Antarctica, they would surely never have succeeded in this, and would have missed out on the many discoveries and advances in science that came from a more open ended approach.
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