Space Travel

18.1 The advantages of space travel

All through history people have been traveling the world for food, conquest, religion, curiosity, luxury items, and minerals. It wasn’t until recently that those journeys were not only very long and adventurous but also quite dangerous. Even knowing those dangers in 1492 a brave Columbus set sail to travel where no one else had gone before, to find a new western route to the Indies. Although Columbus didn’t reach the Indies, his courage and the sacrifices of his sailors brought new knowledge and wealth into Europe.

Centuries after Columbus traveled the oceans, traveling into the unknown space came with its own sacrifices and rewards. During the 1950s and 60s, with the Cold War on the background providing extra pressure, many scientists from the USA and Russia were embroiled in the so-called “Space Race” and “Race to the Moon”. Their ultimate goal was to become the first nation to put a man on the Moon. It was an exciting time in human history and one that spurred technological advances that have very much shaped the way how we live today. It was also this Space Race that generated a big leap in the improvement and production of solar panels.

If we only look at NASA its expenditure contributes to competitively important areas including technology, manufacturing, businesses, and universities. NASA invests in economically valuable technologies that help the nation maintain its competitive advantage. NASA also spends hundreds of millions of dollars on developing emerging technologies, and billions on advancing science and technologies identified as key national priorities. About 80% of NASA activities are carried out by U.S. businesses and universities, with 20 percent supported directly by NASA employees. This business model of relying on capabilities and expertise across the country helps NASA achieve its goals and benefits the nation’s economy by creating larger ripples throughout the economy than any other federal agency (like the military) on average. Five other major governmental space agencies that can help the economies around the world are:

• CNSA, the Chinese National Space Agency.
• ESA, the European Space Agency, a consortium of national space agencies of several European countries.
• Roscosmos, the Russian space agency.
• ISRO, the Indian Space Research Organization.
• JAXA, the Japanese space agency.
• Canada, although currently not a huge player in the space industry, ever since their own hypersonic Avro Aircraft adventure, their ingenieurs have played an important role in space develepment. It’s even said that Canadian ingenieurs helped the USA to put their first man on the moon.

If these agencies would grow and more governments were to join, this could become a great source of new knowledge, employment, and even engine of the global economy.

True there is currently a downside with the contamination from the rocket launches, but there is hope that this might be partly avoided in the future. In 2019 one of the biggest planes in the world called Stratolaunch made its first successful test flight. This futuristic tandem plane was designed by the late Paul G. Allen to provide easier access into space. This plane is currently able to carry and launch three small rockets from an altitude of 11,000 meters (35,000 feet) into space. At this altitude, the air pressure drops to less than a quarter of the pressure on the ground, so less fuel is needed for the launch. The need for less explosive fuel will also make the launch safer. There is still a long way to go to make launches into space more environmentally friendly, but the Stratolaunch is a step in the right direction. Another step in the right direction comes from Space X. They manage already for a couple of years to reuse its rockets.

Indirectly space travel might even have another positive effect on the environment. This can happen when its economic importance becomes more important than the economic value of warfare. Currently, the USA, which has the biggest economy in the world, spends around 633 billion USD on its military, which is around 3% of its GDP. This puts the military on number 11 of the biggest industries in the USA. However, the US military is also the government’s biggest job program with more than 4 million US citizens working direct and indirectly for the military and production of weapons. Not willing to lose these jobs is one of the biggest excuses from the US government for not decreasing its military. But what if the US government can employ part of these people with NASA instead of the military and weapon industry? And what if other governments followed, or even all worked together on space travel instead of against each other with warfare? The International Space Station is a good example of governments working together.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) are also looking into space to broaden their economy. Currently, the economy of this rich desert country is mainly based on fossil fuels. But the past six years they’ve been working very hard on their first-ever spacecraft that’s going to orbit around Mars. Their satellite is called Hope and is one of several projects the UAE government says signals its intention to move the country away from dependence on oil and gas and towards a future based on a knowledge economy. “One of the reasons for the mission being established in the UAE is to feed into the diversification of its economy, and develop expertise in science and technology,” says Sarah Al Amiri, the science lead on the mission.

So what are the chances that risky and expensive space travel can protect earth? Space travel as a solution to human overpopulation – it might sound like a silly idea coming from a non-scientist like myself, but even the late great physicist Stephen Hawking and astronaut Buzz Aldrin seem to agree with this idea. They’re convinced that’s time for humans to look further and live beyond earth. Now is it the moment to be curious and brave again, but instead of navigating the seas like Columbus, it’s time to navigate space. Discover unknown places and create new colonies. This time however without violence and with spaceships sustainably constructed with minerals from the moon and asteroids. A project like this would stimulate our imagination and creativity. Stephen Hawking made another important comment concerning Space Travel: “I hope it would unite competitive nations in a single goal, to face the common challenge for us all,” he said. “A new and ambitious space program would excite (young people), and stimulate interest in other areas, such as astrophysics and cosmology”. And as Aldrin adds: “Space travel captures our collective imagination, encourages our curiosity, and inspires our creativity.” These qualities in combination with a bit of courage are exactly what might help us to unite in finding new and original solutions to save both earth and humanity.

But maybe one of the most important comments related to the content of this book, came from Neil A. Armstrong. A month before the launch of Apollo 11 he said in an interview with Life magazine:
“Hopefully the trips we will be making in the next couple of decades will open up our eyes a little. When you are looking at the Earth from the lunar distance, its atmosphere is so thin, and such a minute part of the Earth, that it can’t be sensed at all. That should impress everyone. The atmosphere of the Earth is a small and valuable resource. We’re going to have to learn how to conserve it and use it wisely. Down here in the crowd you are aware of the atmosphere and it seems adequate, so you don’t worry about it too much. But from a different vantage point, perhaps it is possible to understand more easily why we should be worrying.”