The Final Frontier

Ever since I was aware there was a universe beyond this Earth I have dreamed of leaving this planet and seeing what is beyond the limits of this planet. Earth is an absolutely amazing place and a unique and rare jewel in an unbelievably vast cosmos. It would take a million lifetimes to fully explore this one planet, and yet I want to see more and go beyond the limits of our current understanding and see everything out to the far reaches.

The problem is that humans are frail. We have very specific needs to survive and we require, food, air, gravity, temperature and pressure to all be just right and even then, our life spans are so very short. Outer space is extremely dangerous for us, but then again, it could be much more dangerous for us to NOT explore.

Earth is inherently temporary, and will one day end. Not to sound pessimistic or fatalistic, it is simply a fact that the planet Earth has an expiration date. Most scientist believe that date to be millions or even billions of years away, but that is assuming we don’t encounter an asteroid or comet that could wipe out life, and damage if not destroy the planet. And even if the planet survives, humanity could be ended by a self inflicted nuclear event, an unstoppable virus, or drastic temperature change (I’m not going to get into whether than change could be caused by humans or volcanic eruptions, or just weather patterns beyond our control). If we don’t have a “backup” or a plan to leave the planet or have an established colony, humanity and every other creature we know of, exists only on Earth, and once Earth is gone, so is all of life. That sounds incredibly dire, and it is dire, however, the future can still be bright.

I am confident human life can be extended well past our currently limited century-or-so lifespan. We can build vessels to travel great distances, fold space, simulate gravity, produce sustainable sources of food and air, and give life an infinite expiration date. How do I know that and why am I so confident? Well, it used to be impossible to fly. Impossible to communicate to people on other continents in real time. Recording audio and video was a laughable notion only a few generations ago and so many other things we use on a daily basis were fanciful dreams.