Time ripe for colonization

OTTAWA, Canada - Following a year of tragedy and disappointment, the success of the Spirit robotic spacecraft on Mars is a crucial confidence-builder for the U.S. space program.

For most of society, this isn't enough. We want to go. Manned space exploration satisfies a basic human drive to engage in exploration in a way no other activity does in today's world.

Indeed, the drive to explore is an important characteristic of the human nervous system; awareness of new physical frontiers is essential to the health of humanity.

More than a million years ago, the ancestors of modern man began to expand from sub-Saharan Africa into new habitats, eventually settling every continent and now even establishing "colonies" in submarines and research stations and briefly living on the moon and in low Earth orbit.

It is clearly our very nature to explore and expand outward into available spaces. An extension of this drive motivates our intense desire for a manned space program. Relying only on unmanned probes and robots, however necessary these technologies may be for a scientific picture of the universe, does not satisfy the human spirit.

The reason is simple. Human consciousness tends to lose awareness of technologies as long as they are doing their job. We marvel at the beautiful images produced by the Hubble telescope, but lose awareness of the telescope itself.

Only when our fellow humans are out there working with the technologies are we acutely aware of the new environment of space. People identify with astronauts; in a very real psychological and spiritual sense, they take us with them when they go. Machines, while important proxy precursors to manned exploration, are not fulfilling substitutes for red-blooded astronauts.

Throughout history, our most treasured stories have been about heroes doing remarkable things and having extraordinary adventures. Human beings need heroes, for they personify the drive of people to see beyond the horizons of mundane human limitation. Heroes signify the best that we can become; we require heroes and adventurers to make our dreams real. By sending special people into space we embody our shared vision that humans may one day become citizens of the solar system, the Milky Way, the universe.

Historians show us that geographic exploration has invigorated civilizations throughout history. Whether it was the Europeans arriving in the Americas, or the impressive reed-boat voyages of the Polynesians in the vast Pacific, there is a correlation between geographic exploration and cultural vitality.

Arizona State University historian Stephen Pyne asserts: "Choosing to explore the solar system will not, by itself, assure us continued status as a world civilization. But choosing not to explore will ensure that we will not retain that stature."

Social scientists maintain that, as humans move into interplanetary space and learn to live in synthetic habitats like the International Space Station, various types of biological selection will come into play that will advance human evolution.

To survive ever more challenging conditions, these pioneers will require good health, ability to work well with others, advanced environmental awareness and high intelligence -- characteristics we urgently need at this time in history.

Space colonization will accelerate the adoption of these characteristics as successive waves of humanity move out to settle the high frontier. Despite the enormous distances involved, we will certainly want to remain in touch with our extraterrestrial cousins, for they will teach us in ways we have yet to imagine.

Planets that are home to indigenous sentient life are like eggs nurturing the development of a chick inside. A small window of opportunity exists between the time the chick is able to crack its shell and the time when the yoke runs out.

We are in such a window now. The space program is our species' collective chick chipping away at the shell.

Just as the chick must marshal its energies at the right moment to break out of its first home to survive, the conditions and resources requisite for human space colonization will not last.

As earthly problems mount, we may soon lack the strength and resources to move into this new frontier. If we're serious about space exploration, we must make it happen soon.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Charles Laughlin is emeritus professor of anthropology and religion at Carleton University in Ottawa. Tom Harris is an Ottawa-based engineer and science and technology writer. Write them at Carleton University, A709 Loeb, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, Ontario, K1S 5B6 Canada.

Rank	Location	Receipts	Donors/Avg	Freepers/Avg	Monthlies
46	Delaware	50.00	1	50.00	23	2.17

Bush plans NASA overhaul By Frank Sietzen Jr. and Keith L. Cowing [Full Text] NASA would fuse together its robotic space systems and manned space program to accommodate the goals of President Bush's new space exploration agenda, senior administration sources said.

Mr. Bush is expected to announce Wednesday that he wants to send American astronauts back to the moon early in the next decade in preparation for sending crews to explore Mars and nearby asteroids. The sweeping new effort, which represents the biggest overhaul of the U.S. space program in its history, also would involve retiring the space shuttle fleet and gradually withdrawing participation in the International Space Station.

Although the plans still are only in the concept stage and have yet to be fully developed, the White House insisted advanced robotic devices be emphasized in the new space effort to supplement human space missions, sources said.

"This should end the tired old argument between manned and unmanned space flight," a source predicted.

Advancing space robotic technology will require much of the initial $800 million the president is expected to request for fiscal year 2005 as a down payment on his space plan - it could be as much as $300 million to $500 million of the increase, sources said.

The new robots would be capable not only of exploring the moon in tandem with the visiting astronauts, but also of functioning independently from humans if necessary. Among the robotic systems under consideration would be automated facilities on the moon's surface to perform such activities as facilities construction and operation, power production and analysis of the lunar soil and minerals. The robots also would work in tandem with orbiting probes to map the moon's surface and identify its features in high detail to provide navigational aids for future landings.

Early versions of planning documents, which were shown to UPI, reveal the first missions to the moon under the new Bush initiative - tentatively scheduled for 2013 - would use robotic probes and orbiting spacecraft.

The orbiters could be derivatives of the current fleet of reconnaissance satellites now used around Mars. The surface vehicles could be advanced versions of the Mars Exploration Rovers, such as Spirit, which landed successfully on the Martian surface on Jan. 3, and Opportunity, which is due to land Jan. 24.

NASA already has an advanced robotic lander well into the planning stage. The Mars Science Laboratory, which is due to rendezvous with the planet in 2009, is a nuclear-powered, Volkswagen Beetle-sized craft. It will carry a communications terminal to demonstrate a new laser beam communications system.

Sources also said private enterprise could play an important role in designing and building the moon craft involved in the early stages of the lunar exploration program. One idea, still in its infancy, would be to create an automated pilot plant on the moon to provide power and other resources for a human lunar outpost.

Another concept under consideration would be to build a new generation of lunar rovers, such as those used on three Apollo missions in 1971 and 1972. The new craft would be more like moon-traveling RVs, however, carrying living quarters for astronauts as well as instruments for research.

Sources stressed that under the new space plan NASA would have to abandon its current approach of maintaining separate programs for manned and unmanned missions. Both efforts would have to be combined, using the advantages and best features of each to explore the moon, Mars, and other parts of the solar system, which is the goal at the heart of the new Bush space doctrine. [End]

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.