Can We Colonize Space

The year is 1969. Richard M. Nixon’s first year as America’s 37th President has just begun; the Beatles have just released their iconic album and album cover, Abbey Road; most importantly, the Apollo 11 astronauts, Neil Armstrong and Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr., have taken the first step on the moon (“What” 1). Approximately 47 years ago when the world was beginning to modernize and spring to new heights, people’s interest for the place beyond Earth also emerged. This, then, prompted the U.S., amongst several other countries, to begin the race to space, marking the beginning of the long journey of space discoveries. Years later, with several environmentalists counting the days till Earth’s expiration day, it seems necessary that humans find an alternate

Since humans started populating the Earth, exploration has always been on their minds. Before the 19th century, expansion was kept within Earth’s atmosphere, but as of the 20th-century exploration has expanded onto the whole galaxy. In 1961, Russia sent their first human outside of the Earth’s atmosphere, thus initiating the space race. The space race’s first goal was to get a human from and to the moon, alive and well nurtured. Unlike pre-19th century expansion, this exploration would not bring back any goods or materialistic value. Even though the Space Race may have helped those who lived in Russia and America, to others it was seen as a waste of money because of the lack of materialistic value; money that could be spent otherwise. Their motivation fueled

Carl Sagan once said “every planetary civilization will be endangered by impacts from space, every surviving civilization is obliged to become spacefaring--not because of exploratory or romantic zeal, but for the most practical reason imaginable: staying alive... If our long-term survival is at stake, we have a basic responsibility to our species to venture to other worlds.” The National Aeronautics and Space Administration or NASA, is executing Sagan’s words every day. President Dwight D. Eisenhower created NASA in 1958 with the purpose of peaceful rather than military space exploration and research to contribute to society. Just 11 years after the creation, NASA put Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon, the first humans to

Humans have dreamed of leaving the earth and traveling space for many years, and up to this day they have taken many steps in the right direction. Yet, with every new frontier they approach, new problems loom over the horizon. Some of these problems arise right here on Earth. Some of the issues have been resolved, such as escaping the forces of gravity to reach outer space. Most of the problems are far more arduous and the solutions need more time to be worked out properly. In “The Coming Schism” by James E. and Alcestis R. Oberg, they posit that humans can colonize space. Humans need to buckle up and build the technology which will help to solve problems that would arise to

There is no denying that simply reaching Mars, let alone colonizing it, is a very expensive and dangerous mission, with no guarantee of success. Lynda Williams, a Master of science and physics teacher at Santa Rosa Junior College, is one such skeptic. While she acknowledges the fact that man’s time on Earth is finite, Williams (2010), in her article “Irrational Dreams of Space Colonization,” says that “we have five billion years, plus or minus a few hundred million, to plan our extraterrestrial escape” (p. 4). Williams argues that the only real, immediate threats that the Earth is faced with are the destruction of its environment by climate change and warfare and depletion of natural resources. This brings up a question of morals and ethics: “should we put our resources into developing human colonies ... or should we focus all of our energies on solving and mitigating the problems that create these threats on Earth?” (Williams, 2010, p. 5). Ultimately, it is a question of ensuring the future of humanity on another world versus maintaining the planet that humanity currently

We began questioning what was there for us, the planets and the space. Although we have been wondering and studying astrology since the beginning of time, we find ourselves most preoccupied with the idea now. Much like all new adventures and explorations, there has been failures. I am not here to talk about the failures that have happened though, just to let you know there are numerous there to be accounted for. Instead we shall look at the developments. During the Red Scare, a country competition to get to the new land first and claim or stake it like playing the board game Risk, most of our best outer space designing was made. The first rocket was USSR’s “Sputnik 1” on October 4th, 1957. It was then followed by the first live being in orbit 1957 by the USSR, the 1st human spaceflight in 1961 by the USSR, the first spacewalk in 1965 by the USSR, the first moon landing of America with “Apollo 11” in 1969, and the first space station in 1971. Although there is much controversy to the moon landing of July 20th 1969, I include it for the sake of history being remembered that way regardless to peoples’ preferences on it being either real or fake. Fruit flies, monkeys, dogs and other animals were sent to the new world and launched into what some people pay 20-35 million US $s to do. Yes, space tourism hit its hikes, between the years 2001-2009, sending mostly celebrities past the skies for a ten day visit of the New World for a starting price

As prominent astronomer and astrobiologist Carl Sagan declares, “The sky calls to us. If we do not destroy ourselves, we will one day venture to the stars” (Sagan). In stating this, Sagan asserts his belief that one day humans will travel beyond the Earth. Many believe that this time has finally come. Humanity is well-prepared for a manned Mars mission and should start to colonize the red planet.

Humans will overpopulate the earth and there will be not enough space for people to live. However, we could transport people to Mars if people overpopulate earth in the future. Astronomer Carl Sagan said, "Every surviving civilization is obliged to become spacefaring... for the most practical reason imaginable: staying alive... If our long-term survival is at stake, we have a basic responsibility to our species to venture to other

The colonization of Mars and other planets has ethical concerns. In this paper, I will discuss the important issues that make us question whether it is moral to colonize other planets or not. In the last thousands of years, human kind has progressed a lot. Our technological advancements have made life easier, but have also come with high risk. Our progress has made biological, nuclear and chemical weapons easier to acquire, and new risks such as artificial intelligence are now arising. The consequences of climate change and natural catastrophes look very curtain for the future. With risks like these, there is no way humankind could survive on earth forever. Due to these risks, I will argue

“The next wave of human exploration will take explorers farther into the solar system — developing new technologies, inspiring future generations and expanding our knowledge about our place in the universe” (NASA 2)

That question there will always be present in the background when planning any space explorations. Given recent times it might be best to temporarily halt human endeavors

Inhabiting space is the next step for mankind as a whole. Today scientists are working on getting humans on nearby planets. NASA and Spacex are the two orginizations you would hear about in the news, making new discoveries and advancements to further the evolution of mankind. Humans are obviously special, and have always making new advancements since the stone age. In a couple of years when our technology gets better, it would be the perfect time for humans to unite as one and work towards helping mankind go to space and sending humans to other planets, like Columbus or the Vikings found land in the west hemisphere, man will find habitable planets in the neighboring systems. Since the stone age man has gotten smarter, more efficient, and has increasing power.

As coined by the writers of Star Trek, space is widely considered to be the final frontier in human exploration. There are so many advancements that humanity is striving to make in regards to the exploration of this final frontier. Arguably the main goal of humanity at the moment in terms of space travel is to inhabit another planet. That planet is of course our close neighbor, Mars. But with the inhabitation of Mars comes many challenges, which, logically enough, is why it has not happened yet. There are many questions being asked about what technological advances need to be made and what is needed in order to successfully and safely colonize, or even visit, Mars. For instance, do we need to bring water, or can we use the water on Mars? Can humans adapt to an environment with less gravity? How long will it be until a rocket that can realistically be used to transport humans to Mars is operational? All of these questions, once answered, lead to the unavoidable fact that humans will most certainly colonize Mars someday.

I am writing this letter to you to assess the pros and cons of interplanetory space travel. Should we send humans to Mars? Is it right? Is it really ethical to put fourth human missions to this inhospital planet? YES! In this letter I will be arguing the pros of why we should say YES to the next step forward in humanity. I hope that after reading this it will assist your thoughts and consideration of human interplanetory space travel.

Outer space is the most beautiful place we can see from Earth. And probably the most dangerous. With no oxygen and many planets, not many humans have been there because of the difficulty of the mission and the risks that they take, and more importantly the cost. This shows that space is not the place for humans. We should stay on Earth where we belong. People have been thinking about claiming territory on space for a while, but people shouldn’t be able to claim territory in space because of the expenses of the mission, how unsafe space is, and people already have enough land.