“Space . . . the final frontier”. It’s a saying that was first spoken in the original “Star Trek” series in the ’60s and carries with it a sense of hope that we will be able to accomplish anything in the future.
Perhaps it comes from the central message of “Star Trek” that setting aside one’s differences and journeying the stars sets the stage for a world full of hope and optimism
Whether they are dangerous missions or ones that evoke ideas of peace, sci-fi works often portray the sheer awe that comes with exploring the stars and boldly going where no man has gone before.
But as any person who has gone through enough life experiences will tell you, there is a stark contrast between the way a scenario is planned out and the way it may actually unfold.
Should we create permanent homes for ourselves on other planets if we gained the means to do it tomorrow?
To put it bluntly, no.
Many Netflix programs and sci-fi novels will hypothesize a future where we colonize other planets but never establish how we get from the present moment all the way to the point where we’re living in our beach house on Mars.
The simple inference in most sci-fi stories is that if humanity finally figured out how to travel long distances across space life would became a lot simpler.
Any SyFy channel television show or space opera of the ’60s will have you think that going out to space and making a new home for ourselves would be inspirational to all.
Unfortunately with the current state of our world, it would be disastrous if humanity was attempting to colonize other planets.
To understand this, it’s important to understand the main reason there is a desire to colonize other planets in the first place.
This stems from a feeling of trying to continue the human race. There is a chance we may discover extraterrestrial life out in space but finding a home out in the cosmos is inevitable.
Turning a planet that we have never lived on into our home would be tricky.
Essentially it would take many years, with many generations and countless resources to firmly establish a sustainable colony.
Meanwhile on planet Earth, all those problems that keep us up at night aren’t going away amidst the new age of discovery out in space.
One planet that is frequently talked about being colonized is Mars, with the science community frequently hypothesizing that the red planet is our perfect second home.
However, this new land does not have a sustainable atmosphere and it’s at least 140 million miles from the nearest planet.
After at least six months in space, going through all of the necessary trial and error and creating a sustainable environment, it would end up being the most expensive experiment in the history of mankind.
All of this of course stemming out of a desire to create a legacy beyond the one we have created on Earth.
Like any voyage, there has to be a large united front to drive the journey forward.
Going into the stars and creating settlements on our neighboring planets would require humanity to come together to an extent never seen before.
The reality is we are not close to where we can come together like this.
Aside from the amount of human power and money it would require, there are plenty of urgent dilemmas our world has yet to solve. Before trying to expand to other planets, people should focus on the current situation here on Earth.
Regardless of whether we figure out how to colonize the solar system tomorrow or twenty years from now, we shouldn’t even think about leaving town until we learn how to clean the house.
At the present moment, our grand human adventure is solving political turmoil, world hunger and establishing peace for all.
Maybe one day, when we learn to better accept one another, we will be able to create a legacy across the stars because after all, they aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.
