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Space exploration is already part of human destiny.
The exploitation of space will one day become a necessity for
us. For instance, new space technologies will offer a solution to the
energy crisis our planet is now facing. We can hope that some day we
may be able to transport efficiently and without associated
environmental problems the nearly inexhaustible solar energy
from space and direct it towards Earth.
Energy as an example
There are some billions of billions of billions of watts of
electricity waiting out there to be collected. Such solar power
stations might be located at altitudes of about 35,000 kilometres
above the equator. Some studies claim that such units could become a
reality within the next 20 or 30 years. With current technology, building one of them would require the transport into space of some
100,000 tons of material, and that would take about 5000 flights to
accomplish.
In the more distant future, such stations would one day have to
face competition from other energy sources, such as nuclear fission
supergenerators, nuclear fusion reactors, wave energy stations, ocean
current generators and geothermal wells.
Many of these ideas have been extensively developed by science fiction writers,
however, they have not always adhered to the physical laws that reign
in the Universe.
Lunar and planetary bases
Lunar and planetary bases constitute another project for future
space exploitation.
Our Moon is the place that first comes to mind. We must go back to
the Moon some day. Primarily, because in spite of the Apollo and the other lunar
missions, only half a dozen spots on the surface of the Moon have ever
been explored and we need to find out more about our companion.
The hidden side of the Moon, protected from human sources of
interference that increasingly disturb radio-astronomy - a powerful
means for studying distant celestial sources and, who knows, one day our means
to communicate with other civilisations - would be a perfect site for
building an advanced astronomical observatory.
Furthermore, a base on the Moon could provide huge amounts of
precious minerals, that are scarce on Earth, such as iron,
titanium and aluminium, at a minimum cost because the gravitational
field of the Moon is 20 times weaker than Earth's, and the
extraction and transport into space of this material would require
only 1/20th of the effort it would take on Earth. This material could
be used to build future space stations, or star cities as
we might call them.
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