Space: The Final Frontier

We have successfully established colonies on every continent of our world, and at the time of writing there is a sizable number of people travelling through the air, under and across our seas and inhabiting remote and sometimes inhospitable outposts, rigs and stations in quest of resources, increased security or knowledge. At all times, there is a small group of people inhabiting the International Space Station in orbit around our planet. These are remarkable occurrences. Using telescopes and probes, scientists are exploring space beyond our world with celebrated discoveries, and explorations of our planetary neighbours through a series of interplanetary fly-bys, atmospheric entries and Mars landings have yielded unforeseeable gains in knowledge and understanding of the origin, nature and workings of our universe. The operations of the International Space Station, the revolutionary lunar landing and ‘moon walk’ in 1969, together with other manned space missions have lent credibility to the possibility of human colonisation, or at least visitation, of extraterrestrial environments. During George W. Bush’s second term in office, NASA was given a mandate to send a manned mission to Mars, and latest plans for the International Space Station include a re-increase to the number of personnel permanently stationed there. Whilst the immediate benefits to humanity of visiting and/or establishing colonies within our solar system might be limited to resource acquisition and fact-finding, the long term benefits to be gained by such a venture are difficult to quantify, in that they may truly be immeasurable.