But what would we do in space? Why, if we really did "come in peace," was the whole concept of the "space race" built around besting the Soviets? Would we build space stations? Moon colonies? How about Mars? And, even then, there was a vague awareness that, although our appetite for space exploration was vast, the funding and public support it depended on was far from infinite. It was not entirely a surprise, then, when after the first few Moon landings, public support began to dwindle; the Apollo 13 astronauts famously didn't even merit a live TV feed, at least until their mission turned potentially tragic. The Space Shuttle program, though less ambitious in exploratory scope, continued to capture the American imagination, despite (or perhaps in part because of) the loss of Challenger in 1986 and Columbia in 2003. Yet with costs rising and mission goals elusive, its days were numbered, and the last shuttle, Atlantis, landed at the Kennedy Space Center in 2011.
NASA has certainly achieved some remarkable benchmarks since then -- their New Horizons probe made it all the way to Pluto, and took dramatic images of that no-longer-quite-a-planet and its moon (one might even say it wasn't entirely an unmanned probe, as it contained 30 grams of the ashes of Clyde Tombaugh, who discovered Pluto in 1930). But with budgets in question, the future of human space travel -- one might not deem it properly "exploration" -- is now largely in the hands of private concerns such as SpaceX.
Madeleine Frost
ReplyDeleteThe unknown is utterly fascinating. Humans seem to be especially fascinated by their surroundings — who wouldn’t want to learn about the environment around them and the planet they ended up on? It makes sense, following this logic, that humans built a mode of transportation that enabled them to explore the ocean. But what happens when we look further — to the sky? When compared to sea travel, as we’ve been studying most of the semester, space travel seems to be a different type of “exploration.” Sea exploration, as we know it now, has its limitations — there is only so much surface area to explore on the planet (even though most of the ocean is unexplored, especially its depths). Comparatively, space is infinite — there is a never-ending amount of area to explore. Perhaps the finiteness of exploration is what makes these two types of odysseys different from one another. There is so much unknown about space and it seems like that will always be the case. It is nearly impossible to explore infinity. Not only is the infiniteness enticing, but the challenge that space presents could also be enticing. One has to create these contraptions that are able to withstand leaving the Earth’s atmosphere and then regulating itself in the environment outside of Earth’s realm. There are many moving parts that make both sea travel and (especially) space travel alluring to those who enjoy a challenge, and it is no wonder that both continuously receive interest and curiosity.
Space exploration is interesting to me because I think that nothing will come from exploring space—at least in our lifetimes. The concept of living in space and colonizing another planet may have seemed like it was just around the corner during the space race of the 1950s and 60s. I can’t help but think of places like Tomorrowland in Disneyland, which was constructed as a somewhat realistic depiction of what a post space race world would look like in the future. Looking at Tomorrowland now, however, makes it seem as realistic a depiction of the future as an episode of “The Jetsons”.
ReplyDeleteEven if space travel were possible to other planets right now, I still would not want to leave because I don’t think it would be safe. I would liken this early stage of space exploration we are in to early expedition efforts to new world. I imagine that space travel would bring about its own set of horrors and hardships that would be similar to the ones experienced by explorers from hundreds of years ago (space scurvy?). There is also the question of whether you will die of old age before you reach your destination when travelling in space because everything is so far apart. With all these problems in getting off the Earth, why hasn’t the money funding these projects been used to solve some problems that are closer to home? I think that the “Whitey on the Moon” poem linked elsewhere on the blog was right on the money with that one.
This reading is a lot different from most exploration we have read so far this semester. I think that people who have the guts to travel into space are so brave and interesting to me. They are so brave because unfortunately there has been many tragic of people who do this for a living and hop into a spaceship and don’t make it up there. But, for those who are able to make it there which it does happen it is pretty amazing to see.
ReplyDeleteI can see the point of people wanting to travel to this other world to see what it is like, learn from the experience, and of course to explore all sides of it and I’m sure for many other reasons that I am not aware of. But, at the same time I don’t really see the point of it. One major factor because I don’t see it being very safe to go from planet to planet.
I feel that space, unlike the previous explorations or expeditions we have read about up until now is a completely different beast. Much like how our oceans remain unexplored, space is an enigma with all of being open for us to explore. However, how we do so is the issue and crux of the entire situation.
ReplyDeleteAfter all, there is a lot of danger associated with even preparing oneself for the act of travel, much less the actual thing itself. And even we could visit and reach more far off planets, it makes me wonder what the cost or risks would be, in both a dangerous and monetary sense. If traveling to the north was expensive, then going to different planets would be astronomical in prices, more so than it already is, of course.
Not to mention, I feel that space is something that will never really be explored until far into the future, due its size and the limited nature of our current technology. So, in a way it is an enigma that to most folk will never really be anything but that, which is intriguing in a way.
Every time I think about space, its vastness kind of scares me. I have always been very interested in astrology and found space to be very fascinating. However, when thinking deeply about it, we know how large it is and how small Earth truly is in the big picture. This thought has always left me feeling small. We are significant in our own solar system, but there are so many things left undiscovered in space as a whole. Space leaves us with unanswered questions about unknown planets, stars, galaxies, etc we have yet to discover. With this being said, unknown planets leave room to think about unknown species or aliens to exist. Although at first thought this idea can be terrifying to think about, it interests so many and leaves us curious to know what else is out there. I don't think the topic of space travel and discovering more about it will ever become dull because there is so much left unanswered.
ReplyDeleteCompared to the Artic, I do find this topic to be slightly more interesting because it is so large and is still has aspects that are unknown to us. The are so many discoveries to be made such as, creating a space or discovering a planet humans can thrive on/be used for humans. Not only this, but the discovery of other life or resources that may exist, maybe something that could better us on Earth. There is so much territory to cover and learn about regarding this topic making it so intriguing.
Hi Jewelia! I feel the same way you do when it comes to thinking about space. You put it perfectly when you say it is very interesting but yet also terrifying. The fact that space is filled with mystery and unknown answers makes it intriguing. We have made so much progress over the years on learning about space but there is still so much that hasn’t been discovered yet. When you really take the time to sit back and think about space it can be overwhelming. As you said unknown planets make room for unknown species to exist which is really crazy and fascinating to think about. I completely agree with you when you say that space travel and new discoveries will never really become dull. I also agree that space is a little bit more interesting then the Artic due to the fact that there is still just so much we can learn from space.
DeleteExploring space seems like a vastly more intense situation than exploring the Artic because of the unknown conditions and circumstances that surround it. Yes, in the Arctic the weather was unpredictable, but at least they knew they had air to breathe and would not possibly encounter a different species of humans. Space seems like an exponentially more risky venture in that there are so many factors that could go wrong and are working against humans discovering different planets. I can see people’s intrigue and fascination with exploring different planets, but is the risk worth the reward? I suppose astronauts would say so.
ReplyDeleteThe only question that I have is why has the push and race for space exploration recently decreased? It was so intense in the late 1900’s with multiple countries fighting to be the first in space, but it seems that now the only news we hear about space is millionaire being in space for a few seconds. What has happened to the general population interest and the interest of the government to fund new projects to explore the unknown territory up for grabs? They were not reluctant to give funds for the Franklin and other Artic explorations, so why has the interest suddenly halted after these years?
Hey, Megan,
DeleteI was about to make my own post but then I saw your questions and I actually wanted to answer them. I think part of the reason that the push to be in space was so large in the late 1900s was because people were worried about the state of the world. Nukes were just created after two world wars, there was the cold war happenings, and America and the USSR were having a pissing match over it: everyone wanted to assert their dominance. More than that, at the end of the century, the Ozone hole was expanding, CFCs were still a major issue, and people were really worried about the planet dying. They wanted to see what was out there, partially as an escape clause, and partially because they wanted to be the biggest and the baddest. The other part of it was that they could do it so why wouldn't they?
Now, though, I think part of it is space travel has had a lot of issues. They also haven't really found anything that's helpful to us. People wanted to find life, extra terrestrials, and other things out there. They wanted another livable planet (even though I'm sure we would have just gone up there and killed them). When they didn't find anything, the general public started losing interest. Moreover, it takes so much time for things to get done in space. 75 years ago, space exploration was one of the fasted things happening. But tech has now surpassed that of what space travel can do. We need more instantaneous gratification. We don't want to wait 7 months for a probe to land on another planet -- we forget by then. It doesn't hold our interest.
A lot of people have also turned their attention inwards: when we realized we can't survive on other planets, some tried to start saving ours (keyword, some). And finally, people are starting to see space travel as a joke. It's the thing the millionaires are doing for a joyride on a sunday. Space travel is capitalism and this generation detests capitalism.
I know for myself everyone is talking about how cool space is, and yeah, space is cool -- so long as humans arent in it. I want the humans to leave it alone. I think space exploration is a waste of time and money. I would readily give money to another expedition on the seas, but I wouldn't donate a dime to Musk and his rockets trying to get to the moon.
So I think (again, these are all just my opinions) our generation just doesn't care about it -- because it represents all the things that we don't like about humanity.
I encourage people to disagree with me; I'd like to hear what other people think about this.
Alexandra Ritacco
ReplyDeleteEven as a 27 year old living in 2021, I find Space travel impressive. Space as a whole is an amazing, interesting subject because it is this great big, never ending (or does it?) area. It is vastly big with an abundant of information and nooks and crannies to explore. Space, while giving off a feeling of excitement and new discoveries, also gives off a feeling of danger. You have a better chance of surviving getting lost on earth than you do in Space. In Space you need to bring oxygen, food, and other resources from earth. You are unreachable within Space. Going to Space has this feeling of elite-ness as well. Not everyone can travel to Space. A single mission costs millions of dollars and man months of preparing. You have to be of a specific class. It was once those who were highly educated and trained, but now Space is entitlement for the rich as well.
I believe there are a multitude of reasons why people are eager to go to Space:
1. Let us look at history. The race for Space travel was a plot for domination on the world stage. Russia Vs. America. Who will succeed in the mission of Space travel first!? Space travel, while it should not, aids in political ‘bragging rights’ for a lack of better word.
2. We have been exploring our own planet for centuries. We know what is on earth, except for maybe majority of the deep blue. Space, on the other hand, has a lot to desire. Space, before the 60’s, was explored by telescopes and mathematics!
3. The question of life on other planets. Are we the only planet with life? We now know Mars also has life (bacteria).
It is human’s natural curiosity. I wanted to answer Megan’s question. Space travel did not halt due to lack of interest, but because our political support. I believe it was Bush who had cut funding for NASA.
To quote Carl Sagan, "We were wanderers from the beginning." He is basically saying that it is in our nature, as humans, to seek answers to the unknown and wander. I think that this instinct was more intense when there was a sense of danger and a need to move from one place to another in order to survive. Maybe space exploration had more of an audience in the 1960s because it was new, but I think that humans are more likely to stay in one place when they are away from danger. With global warming becoming more and more evident, the interest in space travel may rise again. If life is deteriorating here, where can we go? The innate fascination for exploration is caused by the fight for survival.
ReplyDeletePersonally I disagree with some opinions of space exploration being very different from Earthly exploration. While space exploration is on a much, much vaster scale, the unknown, to put it dumbly, is the unknown. Exploration in any vein is at its core, the discovery of something new, which could mean new to the individual, or to humanity as a whole. Beyond scale, the mapping of the North West Passage or the Arctic Circle is no different than the mapping of celestial bodies. To go where no man has gone before, regardless of where that exactly is, is a display of human nature and the desire to have first claim.
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