Banner Day For All Those Into the Exploration of Space
Good news for those of us hoping to find life elsewhere in the universe: today’s announcement of the discovery of Kepler 22b. It’s 600 light-years from here – too far to walk – but it has remarkably similar characteristics to our Earth.
I remember making the hour-long drive due north from Trinity College in 1975 (in Hartford, where I was an undergraduate at the time) to Amherst to listen to guest lecturer Timothy Leary. When he took the stage, Dr. Leary immediately gave us the mnemonic “SMIILE” by which we could remember the three elements of his talk, if we cared to, for the rest of our days: SM = Space Migration, II = intelligence increase, and LE = life elongation. I’m not sure I’ve seen a great deal of intelligence increase since the 70s; in fact, I could more easily argue the opposite. But the other elements of Leary’s talk seem to be walking into full bloom.
To the extent that it shines a light on the rare and precious combination of conditions we enjoy on this little blue marble we call home, I applaud the attention this discovery is currently receiving. Yet, I would strongly caution enthusiasts of space migration to keep in mind the following:
First, any migration of the magnitude necessary to make a stab at colonizing such a distant world is considerably beyond present and foreseeable technology. This is particularly true given the musculoskeletal degradation that the human body suffers in zero gravity even with a strict and well-designed exercise and nutritional regimen, and given the lethal danger that gamma radiation presents to genetic code in human cells, against which no sufficient protection yet exists in our bags of technological ricks. This is a barrier to safe journeys through our solar system, and even for short periods in orbit it constitutes a sizable risk that our astronauts and cosmonauts knowingly take whenever they leave our atmosphere.
Second, a healthy, educated and prosperous workforce would be needed to generate the revenue base required to afford the resources necessary merely for the performance of significant experiments to expand the knowledge base requisite to developing the technology for such a venture – considering that those resources should only be expended when they are available as a small percentage of a nation and world’s fiscal surplus. All concrete and present needs of the nation and world to both maintain benevolent societies and sustain the biosphere upon which we all depend must be fully met before such non-vital expenditures can with sound judgment be undertaken.