I grew up just when space exploration was about to start. The Soviet Union sent the first satellite in the orbit around 1957, when I was still a young boy. The space race between the Soviets and the Americans then began in full earnest. First dog in space, first human, first woman, first multiple people, first space-walk, and so on. The human exploration of space reached its height with the Moon landings, some 50 years ago.
During the last 50 years, we have had fantastic unmanned probes, the latest being the one heading to Europa to check out if conditions exist for life developing there. However, it feels like human space exploration has slowed down. Yes, we had Space Shuttle and the International Space Station, but the excitement of forming a colony on Moon or exploring planets continues to be Elusive.
That may be changing. Finally, I feel that human space exploration is going to restart again. One recent course on Great Courses Plus provided me with some basis for feeling optimistic.
The teacher of this twelve-part course is an American woman, Ariel Ekblaw, who founded the Space Exploration Initiative at MIT’s Media Lab in 2016. Now, she is also CEO and co-founder of a space habitat-oriented firm called Aurelia Institute.
She starts the course by responding to the basic question---why do we want to go to space anyway? She mentions several reasons.
· Curiosity. This is along the line of the answer that a British Mountaineer gave to someone who asked him why he wanted to climb Mt Everest? “Because it is there,” was his short answer.
· Preserve civilization. This has become even more important in the age of Climate Change. Even if Earth remains habitable, it is wise to develop alternatives—as science fiction has long postulated.
· Expand circle of awareness. This is like going up a hill to get a sense of perspective on where you are. Perhaps an unmanned probe can do that as well, but nothing beats physically being up there.
· Technology applicability to earth. This argument was often used by NASA to justify billions of dollars it was spending. It still is one of the reasons why we explore space, but not the primary one.
In general, space exploration has been done by the government agencies, like NASA and its counterparts in the world, and by the military. Lately, commercial entities have joined this elite group. Ariel cites several commercial firms in that category:
· Blue Origin (space station, landing system)
· Space X (super heavy rockets, landing system)
· Virgin Galactic
· Axiom Space (space station)
· Voyager Space
· United Launch Alliance
· Zero G
Most of us are familiar with the first three, founded by billionaires. Space X has been particularly active, having taken astronauts to and from the space station, and launching hundreds of satellites in the near-earth orbit to create and support an international communication system called Starlink. Elon Musk, the founder, has expressed a vision for his firm playing a key role in human exploration of Mars.
The advantage of having commercial firms enter space exploration is that it allows meeting the economic challenges posed by this endeavor. Now, through public-private partnerships, commercial capital can be tapped. Aided by government, industry can now take much more responsibility and the pace can become faster. This is especially important as we move beyond space exploration.
There will indeed be a need to public sector money in this public-private partnership. For those who object to spending tax-payers’ money on these endeavors, I would suggest to take a look at how we are wasting money in the Defense Department. In the age of drones becoming a major fighting force, why are we spending money on expensive hardware designed for fighting the war of the past? Also, if a massive cyberattack can bring a country to its knees, what good is it to spend money on military hardware? A small fraction of this waste can easily fund any public sector involvement in space exploration, and take humanity to the next level.
What is beyond space exploration? Ariel lists four futures:
1. Exploration (where we are right now)
2. Experience
3. Exploitation
4. Expansion
Experience refers to a larger segment of people getting to explore what going to space or living there feels like. Currently, very few, mostly the billionaires and their family/friends, have had a chance to experience space, and that too mostly flights up and down. This has caused some concern about the billionaires taking a ride while there are lots of starving children. Fair, but the problem of starving children won’t be solved by a few people not spending their own money on what to many people looks like a waste. I believe that this is their return for making investments, and we want to have them invest as we shift to a commercial phase of space exploration.
Currently, only a select few civilians have experienced orbital flights. However, as the cost of sending someone up there reduces (e.g., through reusable rockets) and large orbiting structures are built to rotate around the earth, additional folks will experience what travelling to space feels like. There is also, obviously, a chance for the commercial firms to make some money and get return on their investments.
Additional ways in which investment can provide a pay-off is when we start exploiting space. One such prospect is to mine for water on the moon. It does exist, especially in the lunar polar regions. Water thus mined will serve not only the lunar colony, when it comes into existence, but also make space travel to Mars more affordable. Acting as the way station, a lunar fill-up station will avoid bringing water from earth, which is expensive, given the gravity of our planet. It is not only water but also its constituents, Oxygen and Hydrogen, that will play key roles in space travel. Oxygen is necessary to support life, and Hydrogen can be used as fuel.
Mars will be the second step (after moon) for the last phase of future space travel: Expansion. Maybe at some time point (hundred years from now?), one can envision some humans living elsewhere in our solar system. At the moment it is a science fiction territory, but so were smart phones and Internet, just a few years back.
In the course on the Future of Space Exploration, Ariel describes what is being done on many technological fronts that need to be addressed as we continue of journey. For example, she talks about:
· Going back to the moon: Economic and scientific potential of long-term lunar bases
· Going to Mars: Risks involved in the mission, building structures on Mars.
· Future habitable villages orbiting earth: Next generation of structures including those that are able to assemble themselves.
· Next generation space suit design: Those that provide radiation protection, as well as life support systems.
· Food in space: Beyond providing basic nutrition, food that is flavorful and supports mental well-being and social bonding.
· Thriving in space (not just surviving): how to fight disorientation, vertigo, and nausea caused by weightlessness.
· Space tourism: Orbiting resorts offering sports, cuisines and entertainment that are unique to zero g.
· Commercial ways to benefit to life on earth: “Off worlding” opportunities to mine the moon and asteroids, generate power in space and develop material and biotechnologies possible only in microgravity.
· Finding life in the universe: Determine habitability and signs of life on promising planets (e.g., Mars), moons of planets (e.g., Europa) and thousands of exoplanets discovered so far.
· Ethical problems of space: Not taking our bad habits with us, or disturbing the pristine nature of space objects we explore.
Given what Ariel says (and she is from my alma mater…MIT), I feel confident that space exploration is about to take off (pun intended), and get into space experience, space exploitation, and in the future, human expansion in space.
It is too late for me, but my grandchildren, or even their grandchildren will become explorers themselves and will have no hesitation taking a vacation on the Moon.
