Fly or Die: Frack!
The Space Shuttle Discovery took off yesterday and I am proud of that. It is excellent news, and not just because I am an American. The endeavor of spaceflight must never be just a curiosity; it is an essential for the survival of the human species.
Now I suspect what you may be thinking, that I am high on rocket fumes again. I’m serious; the world is a dangerous place. You may think that all you need to worry about is being mugged or wiped out by a stray go-cart, your wrong pal! A dude named Stephen Hawking said a few weeks ago that humans must leave the planet or we could very well perish within a century or so. He is fracking right!
Extinction might seem like fun and games to many of you, but try it yourself. If you study biology, you would know that most of the species that have lived on Earth are history. The Dinosaurs dominated the world for 160 million years before dying off 65 million years ago. The modern human has only been around for about 100,000 years, and at our rate we will be lucky to last another 100,000.
Just consider all the exciting ways that we can all die. The great flu pandemic of 1918 caused the deaths of tens of millions of people. In 1815 the volcano Tambora exploded killing 70,000 people, and the worst famine in a century. Nature can produce much worse, such as the asteroid that killed off the dinosaurs.
The list does not even include human sources of destruction. Global warming could in the future lead to a drastic destabilization of the climate. Nuclear war could still very well happen in the future. Like it or not, hundreds of warheads are still on alert to be launched in moments from the order of the President of America or Russia. Regardless of the cause, the result wouldn’t be nice.
Now I am an honest enough to admit when I am wrong. I first considered President Bush’s proposed Mars exploration program to be political crap. In hindsight, it is political genius from our President. A rare gem from his administration of incompetent chaos. The program deserves all the support that it can get.
Joyful news about the recent launch from NASA.
The new NASA project to venture to the Moon and Mars from Wikipedia.
posted by The Architect @ 7:43 PM
2 Comments:
You make a good argument Darkstar, but humanity could still survive in mines in the face of a future catastrophe. I don't disagree with your argument, space is essential to survival. It just does not need to be the only option.
You have a just point Miss Liz. However space does offer the advantage of complete isolation. When the next plaque hits, we can at best hope that none of it gets into the mines or bunkers. As another example, another world war breaks out, what is to stop the enemy from bombing the bunkers? Space is the ultimate escape and as such it is also our best salvation from the next disaster to strike Earth.
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