With the recent rise in interest in space, we have seen many organizations and institutions like NASA announcing the findings of new planets and stars. We have also seen companies like SpaceX pushing their visions of interplanetary missions. Why is it really important?
Humans are driven to explore the unknown, discover new worlds, push the boundaries of our scientific and technical limits. The intangible desire to explore and challenge the boundaries of what we know and where we have been has provided benefits to our society for centuries. Human space exploration helps to address fundamental questions about our place in the Universe and the history of our solar system.
Even the ancient Egyptian civilizations used the positions of the Sun to predict the floods and strategically built temples to allow light to enter during specific times in a year. Mayans built their cities to coincide with the astronomical events. Humans have explored, we have expanded our scientific knowledge and because of that our civilizations have advanced at such an exponential rate. The world that we have built today is the result of several millennia worth of knowledge.
In just the last few decades, several explorations like determining the approximate age of the universe, discovering several exoplanets, or searching for planets with flowing water has led to advancements of several groundbreaking technologies which indirectly boosted the improvement in machinery used in day to day life. Scientific research conducted in the International Space Station not only helps in developing for further space exploration but also assists in working on projects that can actually save human lives. For example, study of medicine in micro gravity allows for discoveries that were nearly impossible on Earth.
Emerging industries like Space tourism have garnered a lot of interest among people and the organizations alike. The potential for industries like mining, energy and service sectors due to space exploration is unlimited.
Exploration is necessary to push humanity further, but while exploring it is also necessary to keep ethics in mind. It is especially important not to disrupt or damage resources that need to be left alone.
