Destiny? Salvation? Relationships?

In my last post I considered space exploration as a technological challenge and a human resource opportunity. Now I will look more deeply into considerations of what it will take to colonize Mars and to advance space exploration in terms of people power. It is easy enough to think of space exploration and the colonization of planets, and moons, as a matter of technology. How do we get a star ship to a specified destination? How do we keep humans alive while in transit from point A to point B? How do we terraform a planet or a moon? Necessary questions, all. Nevertheless, without a thoughtful discussions regarding what social norms we want to carry with us, we will play out the standard scripts. We will carry with us the same expectations we have always had, not always a bad thing. Yet, to us Earthlings, space is an undiscovered country. Granting that, we cannot afford to make the mistake that other heavenly bodies and space are simply Tabula rasa . The Cosmos is anything but--we bring our interior baggage with us.

How to create an environment in which people from all walks of life can leave behind their doubts concerning other people and other cultures? Fortunately, we need not travel too far to find an illustration of how to do this. The best-known example of intercultural cooperation in space exploration is ISS. Cosmonauts and astronauts agree that political differences are set aside by the crew of the International Space Station. On ISS the job matters much more than earthbound differences and old fears. Survival needs are terrific motivators for encouraging folk to get past preconceived notions of good and bad or right and wrong. And this reality is key to understanding what I meant when, on the page Welcome to Mars I observed

I believe that space exploration is our destiny and, if we allow it, our salvation

Exploration is a part of our makeup. Homo sapiens do a great deal of exploring and we know no bounds when it comes to travelling through any domain we discover. The sciences, be they human sciences, physical sciences, or the empirical sciences. Arts of all types from writing to theater and dance to sculpture. Societies, ancient and current. All these domains along with many more we have traversed. Our drive, our need, to learn is innate. Hence, exploring space colonizing heavenly bodies is inescapable. How is all this tied to "salvation"? Certainly, it need not be. Notwithstanding, to miss the chance to begin anew, to set aside our internal baggage and to live into a more other centered life would be a shame. Ours is a life of concern and care for what is already here. The Cosmos is far older than Hominids; it stands to reason that we owe our very existence to the Universe, we ought not to act in petty ways or carelessly where preserving the Universe is concerned. Yet, clearly, speaking of the Cosmos is to deal with a huge expanse, whatever we do to Earth could hardly impact the Universe one way or the other. Take a minute, then, to consider the ramifications of maltreated Earth.

We see the negative even dangerous consequences of our actions even now. As we prepare to journey to Mars let us consider that we can redeem ourselves by being more aware of Mars than we have been of late concerning our fragile island home. Let us go to Mars with the sole purpose of being inquisitive, of being aware of our desire to feed our curiosity by learning all we can about the Martian ecosystem before we begin to mine Mars' resources. We have committed plenty of errors when it comes to caring for Earth. Not least we have taken Earth's resources for granted for far too long a time. Now we have the opportunity, and the wisdom, to proceed to Mars with an awareness of the necessity to protect and to care for Mars. This is one facet of turning away from and renouncing our foolish even reckless path of destroying Earth in the name of greed. And this is not the only opportunity to restore ourselves. The work involved in space exploration provides another path to our restoration.

Colonizing Mars is a lofty enterprise requiring many people from every region of Earth. This is an international collaboration. By focusing on the need to survive and on the goal of laying the building blocks for a strong, a successful, ultimately for a thriving colony allows folk to go beyond their all-too-common way of thinking about other peoples and other cultures. Since our mission is all about success and safety, our means must be inclusive. We will do this by drawing on the strengths of many for the sake of accomplishing our goals. There is no room in this project for prejudice or for shortsighted stereotypes. Daring ourselves to make the most of the opportunity to live on Mars and to further our capacity to explore space means furthering our ability to respect and nurture all those who commit to this mission.

We are exploreres

People have been on the move, exploring and migrating, for time out of mind. Whether one thinks in terms of the colonization of islands in the Pacific Ocean (the crew had to bring their own water and food with them, you can’t drink salt water) or of the Bering Strait, or of any other migrations and/or explorations you care to mention, humans have been at it for time out of mind. The last time folk committed themselves to a project of exploration that involved a great journey was on 25 May 1961, when, before a Joint Session of Congress, President Kennedy dared us to land a man on the moon before the end of the decade. We did it. And what is more, we kept on sending men to the moon. But the last crew to go to the moon left over forty years ago (1972).

The moon is not the only heavenly body people have visited. Since then we have sent robotic missions to Mars. There is only so much these missions can accomplish. Robots and rovers are quite good at doing what they are told to do and they do not cost anywhere near as much as sending Homo sapiens to Mars. They don’t need water, or breathable air. Geez, robotic missions don’t even need a specific atmosphere. About all they seem to need is enough sunlight to generate power and enough gravity so they can actually stay on the planet’s surface. One downside to sending rovers and any other type of robotic mission to Mars is this: Folk are not as inspired by our mechanical companions as we are by other people. Certainly, landing a rover on Mars is a great challenge. To date only one nation has succeeded. Landing people on Mars will prove even more difficult.

Nonetheless, sending folk to Mars will reap unimaginable benefits. Here’s the deal. When people travel through space we actually pay attention. It’s a big deal! We start to care more deeply about the delicate balancing act required to survive on Earth. Pictures taken from the moon of this fragile island home woke up countless people to the reality that if we continually mistreated Earth, if we constantly took Earth for granted, if we polluted the atmosphere nonstop, along with all the bodies of water, and the land, we would find ourselves in a very difficult place. Sadly that realization is proving out. The debate's over. Among those who study Earth the most, and who are the most knowledgeable about how Earth works–there is no question: Climate change exists.

Climate change has occurred in the past. This time there is a difference. It is now being caused not by recurring predictable environmental phenomenon, instead it is driven by our lifestyle and our values, namely avarice. In today's world, the number one cause of climate change is a major byproduct of industry: Pollution. But what does climate change have to do with colonizing Mars? It is one more sign that without people coming together to solve ecological problems and glaring economic inequities, along with working on the status imbalance between Caucasians and Asians and everyone else in the world, we are doomed. The current terrorist threats facing people today are as much symptoms of our own unconscious ways of relating to people of color or of 'different' religions as though we white folk are masters and all others, save for Asian peoples, are servants. The way out is a common goal. An inspiring and awe filled project. Aiming for the stars, beginning by colonizing Mars, allows everyone to dream. Prejudices are nonexistent in space, we can be grateful for that, and as long as we rein in our greed and employ wisdom we can create a culture based on exploration for the sake of inquiry; for all humans are blessed with curiosity; inquisitiveness can advance scientific knowledge used for the improvement of life on Earth and in space. We can learn a great deal about being human, from medicine to new ways of relating to one another. Space travel takes a long time. Even traveling to Mars is a seven month journey that will be made in a star ship the size of a tour bus. As you can imagine, privacy will be at a minimum. There is so much to be discovered and many possibilities to recreate how we see ourselves and our species--that is the greatest chance. To rediscover who we are and who we have always been meant to be in terms of our relationships to Earth, to one another, to the Cosmos, and to our Creator.