It is 2050, and a man sits on a passenger spacecraft bound for a new city on Mars. As the countdown reaches zero, he looks out the window, watching the other ships take off around him, and his own begins to lift off the ground. Rocket boosters produce a thundering roar, shaking the ground as they emit bright, powerful flames that erupt into plumes of smoke. Slowly, at first, the spaceships break free from the bonds of gravity as they speed upwards into the infinite expanse of space. He watches as the Earth gets smaller and smaller, wondering what his new life on Mars will be like.
This mission to expand human civilization to other celestial bodies is not just fueled by a passion for adventure and discovery. With the rising problems of global warming and depletion of natural resources, it is necessary for us to expand to other planets to save the human species from possible extinction. According to The
Guardian, “Earth’s population will be forced to colonize two planets within 50 years if natural resources continue to be exploited at the current rate.” If we do not continue working towards the colonization of other planets, humanity’s existence will be extinguished with the resources on our planet.
Since humans first left Earth’s atmosphere, engineers and terrestrial researchers have discovered and invented technology for the exploration of our universe and colonization of other planets. For example, NASA’s inflatable heat shield makes it far more feasible to land larger objects on Mars as it takes up less spacecraft space and is still very effective when entering the atmosphere. However, there are still many hurdles that we need to overcome. Humanity needs to develop essential technologies like sustainable life support systems, effective radiation protection, and effective transportation methods at a feasible cost in order to build a future civilization on other celestial bodies. Currently, engineers and scientists are working hard to make these breakthroughs through new innovations in technology and knowledge about our universe.
For example, NASA is also working to bring space colonization into reality through its Artemis missions. NASA’s Artemis missions aim to bring humans back to the moon to learn how to live and work on other celestial bodies to prepare humans for future missions to Mars. NASA is working on the Artemis II test flight, which will be the first crewed-mission under the Artemis campaign and plans to send astronauts on a 10-day mission around the moon. This endeavor is tentatively scheduled for September 2025. The Artemis III mission would send the first humans to explore the region near the South Pole of the moon, and Artemis IV will debut humanity’s first lunar base.
The International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) project by China and Russia, much like the Artemis missions of NASA, also aims to construct experimental research facilities on the surface or orbit of the moon. In June, a Chinese spacecraft returned to Earth carrying a sample of the lunar surface collected from the far side of the moon – a first for humanity. This mission contributed to the Chinese goal of finding a suitable site for the ILRS.
The ILRS and the Artemis missions have similar goals and could potentially have competing strategic interests. The efficiency of interplanetary transportation has recently seen a lot of development, with private companies such as SpaceX leading the way.
“By making space access more affordable and frequent, reusable rockets could enable a wave of new commercial space activities and exploration,” according to the Space Economy Institute.
With the economic barrier preventing commercial space travel, reusable rockets bring humanity one step closer to ensuring its survival through the colonization of other planets.
On Oct. 13, SpaceX launched its fifth test flight of Starship, using Ship 30 and Booster 12. Upon the booster’s reentry, it activated its rockets to slow the descent until a pair of mechanical arms dubbed “chopsticks” caught the booster in midair. After reentry, Ship 30 landed accurately in the Indian Ocean. With the booster’s successful return, SpaceX has demonstrated impressive progress toward creating a reusable rocket that could drastically reduce the cost of space travel.
The work that SpaceX has done is bringing us closer to Musk’s goal of having a self-sustaining city on Mars that is able to support one million people. Beyond SpaceX, smaller companies such as the Long Beach-based Rocket Lab, are also working on reusable rockets. Their rockets deploy a parachute and are caught by helicopters, differing from how SpaceX’s rockets return back to Earth.
“If you think about the future of humanity, it’s going to fundamentally bifurcate in two directions, all life as we know it. Either it’s going to become multiplanetary, or it’s going to be confined to one planet, until some eventual extinction event,” SpaceX founder Elon Musk said. Musk illustrates that all of these companies are working towards creating reusable rockets because they are necessary to save the future of humanity.
With all of the innovations and developments in technology and our understanding of the universe, I believe that our species will be able to expand onto other planets and avoid the extinction of humanity and our planet.
