Star Wars captured audiences in ways that I don’t think earlier generations will ever quite experience. Indiana Jones had children and adults on the edge of their seats waiting to see what the unstoppable history professor would uncover next. The giraffes at the zoo couldn’t cut it quite like the velociraptors and t-rex could in Jurassic Park could. Much the same, they too couldn’t cut it after two sequels and a decade or two had passed, so a mutated science experiment of a dinosaur was created for the most recent sequel. Humans need stimulation, they need excitement and discovery, boundaries must be pushed. While every corner of the world is mapped, there are few places left for great adventurers to explore. Essentially, if they’re looking for other worldly, they need to dive deep or go up. Way up.
Humans take a back seat to robotics in the realm of collecting information and running tests on extra-terrestrial environments, hence the proposed probe that NASA would like to send to Europa, one of the largest of Jupiter’s 63 moons, in search of life forms in the vast liquid water ocean beneath its icy surface (Orwig, 2015). However, the future of space exploration may very well be reported back to Earth by a human voice. Between the North American Space Agency, Russian space agencies, and privatized space companies that have their own goals like commercialized space flight and trips to Mars, along with their contract work with NASA, we’ve got quite a few manned missions in our future (Mann, 2012). As microwave radiation driven engines that do not require fuel and closed circuit habitats for astronauts are developed and perfected, mankind is working towards a future in space(Rodal, Ph.D et al., 2015; Wall, 2013). With plans to 3D print a base on the moon as a learning ground for future extended stays on Mars, to the doors that will open for deep space exploration, I believe man will break ground on other planets within my lifetime (Domanico, 2014).
References
Domanico, A. (2014, November 6). European Space Agency wants to 3D-print a moon base. Retrieved July 5, 2015, from http://www.cnet.com website: http://www.cnet.com/news/the-european-space-agency-wants-to-3d-print-a-moon-base/
Mann, A. (2012, December 27). The Year’s Most Audacious Private Space Exploration Plans. Retrieved July 5, 2015, from http://www.wired.com website: http://www.wired.com/2012/12/audacious-space-companies-2012/
Orwig, J. (2015, February 2). NASA just announced it’ll be visiting this beautiful moon for the first time. Retrieved July 5, 2015, from http://www.businessinsider.com website: http://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-annouces-plans-to-visit-europa-2015-2
Rodal, J., Ph.D, Mullikin, J., & Munson, N. (2015, April 29). Evaluating NASA’s Futuristic EM Drive (C. Gebhardt, Ed.). Retrieved July 5, 2015, from http://www.nasaspaceflight.com website: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2015/04/evaluating-nasas-futuristic-em-drive/
Wall, M. (2013, April 2). NASA Mega-Rocket Could Lead to Skylab 2 Deep Space Station. Retrieved July 5, 2015, from http://www.space.com website: http://www.space.com/20444-nasa-deep-space-station-skylab2.html
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