Should we colonize other planets?
On February 18th, 2021 NASA’s rover, Perseverance, landed on Mars with the goal of studying its surface for future colonization. Eight days before the China National Space Administration launched an orbiter with more than 13 scientific instruments with the goal of observing Mars under different conditions. One day before, on February 8th the United Arab Emirates Space Agency launched another satellite (Hope) to orbit Mars so that we can gather information about the planet’s behavior. Over many years humans have expanded their knowledge far from the land’s limits. Since 1957 when the first satellite, Russian Sputnik 1, was launched from Earth, humans have the intention to go beyond the atmosphere that surrounds us. In addition, we have had the desire to find what is beyond our home. In 1609, Galileo Galilei was the first person to take a telescope and point it to the sky. He drew the things he saw on his telescope, one of these drawings was the moon’s phases. Even though human’s nature for discovering the unknown does give a valid point, there are other reasons with greater fundamentals. Space colonization seeks mainly two things, the survival of the human civilization and biosphere in the case of a planetary scale disaster where Earth becomes unable to sustain life; and the availability of extra resources that could enable the expansion of human society.
A global catastrophic disaster is an existential risk Earth has. Indeed, these possible futures become more common the more humanity expands its knowledge and technology; nanotechnology, hostile artificial intelligence, and biotechnology are some of the examples capable of ending humanity on a global scale. The wrong use of these powerful technologies can be dreadful to humanity. We have seen multiple examples like this in the course of history. Michael Allen, a software developer, and author stated in one of his articles that the German Nazis develop astonishing chemical and medical achievements such as the mustard gas which was misused as a “factory of death.” In parallel, we have nuclear weapon discoveries during World War 2 where about more than 100,000 people were affected. History.com Editors claimed that Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb, that his achievements in nuclear science are extremely important to our modern sciences. In addition, not only our technology can exterminate us, but irresponsible governance also can. The recent natural emergencies like global warming, environmental degradation, extinction of species, pandemics, famine due to crop failures, and human overpopulation can be too much to handle for the government. Likewise, unpreventable natural events can trigger the base of society we know today. Asteroids collisions on Earth are likely to happen. National
“Our House on Fire — New Course Asks: ‘What Can We Do about Climate Catastrophe?’” Rutgers SASN, Nov. 2019, sasn.rutgers.edu/news-events/news/our-house-fire-new-course-asks-what-can-we-do-about-climate-catastrophe. Accessed 6 Apr. 2021.
Geographic, a famous science magazine, stated that on April 29th, 2020 an asteroid with “ at least 1.5 kilometers” passed 16 lunar distances from earth. The vast space is unknown to us and, basically, we can assume that we can be exterminated at any point in time. In addition, other unpreventable situations are the capability of Earth to sustain life. First of all, Earth’s estimated lifetime is 2.8 billion years from now, but how much time is left in which humans are able to live here? Remember planet Venus? Science Magazine Nature speculates it used to have large oceans with habitable conditions thanks to phosphine, but over time gases were trapped in the atmosphere and became the hottest planet in the solar system with an average temperature of 471ºC. The fact that humans have a second opportunity to survive in space gives us hope humans will not be completely exterminated under these circumstances.
Space colonization will not only bring a chance of survival but benefits in multiple areas such as the economy and social conflicts. Overpopulation is a problem with doubtful solutions due to the fact that we are talking about human lives. However, considering that space colonization can “solve” overpopulation is physically impractical. Acclaimed scientists, including Carl Sagan, Arthur C. Clarke, and Isaac Asimov, have claimed that sending excess population into space is not a viable solution because of the high costs and limited capacity centers on other planets will have. Nevertheless, the extraction of resources in extraterrestrial bodies can diminish the demand for some materials Earth has. The possibility of gathering resources is extremely high due to the vast majority of resources space has. In order to exemplify the number of resources that are inside our range, we can look at the different methods of extraction. The galaxy in which we live, the Milky Way, has various hundred billion planets suitable for colonization and resource collection. However, it is not possible to travel to them because we do not have interstellar travel yet. This is why colonizing and gathering materials from close planets at a slow pace will help humanity at low risk. In parallel, the extraction methods we will
“Lsbc.” Luxembourg Slovenian Business Club, 4 June 2016, lsbc.lu/new-asteroid-mining-law-being-drafted-in-luxembourg/. Accessed 6 Apr. 2021.
use for those planets are asteroid mining and material extraction itself. In a few years,
asteroid mining will be a reality because of the great benefits it can bring to humans. First of all, asteroid mining consists of gathering raw materials from small planets or objects close to Earth in order to alleviate Earth’s resource extraction saturation. NASA has already designed a sturdy plan for asteroid mining called optical mining. Asteroid mining will not only help reduce contamination but will provide more resources than Earth can give. This process is not as expensive as many people think. According to NASA studies, money spent on space mining will be rapidly refunded due to the great results it will bring economically. Materials like precious metals, gemstones, power, solar cells, ball bearing, semiconductors, and pharmaceuticals have high value here on Earth which is why extracting those will make such a big impact. Moreover, establishing colonies on other planets to facilitate asteroid mining is, indeed, beneficial for everyone on Earth because of its long-term results besides its short-term results which are resource extraction from the planet itself.
Space colonization was the future of humanity because we are now capable of turning that into our present. Continuing the journey that our ancestors built is the key for humans to develop. It all began with the agricultural revolution followed by the industrial and scientific revolution. However, we are now coming into a new one. The technological revolution will not only depend on making phones by allowing people to see paths. The advantages that space colonization has are numerous. Besides spreading beauty throughout the universe and leaving a human mark in space, economic and social outcomes will help the course of humanity positively. Abundant resources and the inauguration of a new market plus the increase of human survival are some specific examples in favor of space colonization. To conclude, space colonization can only bring positive and long-lasting positive effects to Earth which will enhance our way of living in multiple aspects including socially and economically. As an award-winning theoretical physicist, Stephen W. Hawking said, “I don’t think the human race will survive the next 1,000 years unless we spread into space. There are too many accidents that can befall life on a single planet. But I’m an optimist. We will reach out to the stars.”
