Earthbound: Our Home

Every time I have heard Elon Musk talk about journeys to and colonization of Mars by human beings, I had to wonder. Here we are on a small, blue planet at the edge of the Milky Way galaxy in space beyond comprehension.

I wondered whether deep space exploration by humans is really realistic. Then I came across a book by Dennis Meredith called, “Earthbound”. From reading it, I have concluded deep space trips by humans requiring months or years to complete are not going to happen. We, human beings, are children of the Earth and are tied to our planet except for near Earth orbiting or trips to our own moon.

I want to quote from the last chapter of the Meredith book. He writes, “As this book has revealed, deep space is an invariable killer. Whether the lethal source be radiation, weightlessness, disease, or the trauma of isolation, humans cannot exist for any length of time beyond the sheltering environment of Earth orbit.”

He writes further, “Nor is exploring deep space economically feasible. It is just not worth the massive expense of building the elaborate infrastructure of human deep-space travel and exploration.”

We have already seen the negative health effects on astronauts even from lengthy stays on the International Space Station in relatively close Earth orbit. These are minuscule when compared to what would be experienced in year long or more trips at extreme distances from our home planet.

So, what is the answer. It is clear. We have already sent probes and landers to distance places. The Voyager I and II space probes still function decades after launch as they have sailed into interstellar space. And we have already sent landers and rovers to the moon and Mars and even to one comet.

Humans, people, require oxygen to breathe, water intake, a rather narrow temperature range in which to live, nourishment for life biological processes, handling of human waste products, spacial orientation for mental health, and much more. Human bodies are biological, living beings based largely upon a very limited number of chemical substances: Carbon, Hydrogen, Nitrogen, Oxygen, and Potassium plus a few more minor others.

Robots and other electronic devices require none of this. The only requirement is a power supply like the sun’s radiant energy or, perhaps, nuclear energy or solar energy generally. Humans are capable of developing very sophisticated silicon based robots that require only an outside energy source.

So, we need to get out of our ego and recognize our limits. As stated, we are deeply rooted in our home. We are children of the Earth from which we cannot venture far. We should put our efforts into the development of AI and robots to send into space exploration with communications back to Earth about what is found. This we can do and have already taken early and pretty complex steps in this direction…. And it won’t break the bank.

Carl Sagan, an astronomer from our past, described Earth as the Pale Blue Planet floating in space. It is our home that we need to preserve and cherish.