Star Quest

Fly me to the moon, let me play among the stars, let me see what spring is like on Jupiter and Mars in other words, let's reach our true destiny. A take on Frank Sinatra's hit. But, that movie "Interstellar" points out some very real possibilities that could play out in reality sooner than we think. When Tsiolokovsky, the pioneering Russian scientist, remarked that Earth is the cradle of mankind but one cannot live in the cradle forever he understood the vital importance that man must seek out new life forms and to literally go where no man has go before. Now, as the summer winds of the worlds discontent fast approach aided by the prolific findings of Stephen Hawking about the fate of mankind we really need to put our house in order and look to the stars if we have any hope of saving the human race. And, we better do it quick. Mankind has always wondered could there actually be a better world out there? We'd have better hope so.

There are those who have always said that life here began somewhere out there. It is preposterous to think that man is alone in this vast universe. And, yet too many times we take our existence here for granted. Now, with humanity poised to fall into the abyss of caves mankind must reassert a destiny that may have been already predetermined. We have to understand that if mankind is to continue it's existence humanity has to look to the stars. Somewhere beyond the heavens there has to be planets that are situated in inhabitable zones, like earth is in relation to our sun. It is our capacity and our innate nature that has made mankind develop the innovations that has propelled societies through-out the ages otherwise we would still be stuck in the cave of the Neanderthal. We have evolved and yet with the world set to implode in violent clash of ideologies where any spark of defiance could engulf the earth in a firestorm sending man back into the caves we would be mindful to realize that we still have the ability to change and direct our energies to our ultimate destiny. We have to. The sun won't last forever, and the fate of our planet lies in the existence and our proximity to the sun.

Scientists have only speculated on how old our planet is. Questions arise as to what if the Sun and Earth are older than what we first thought? Could we face extinction sooner than latter. And, with the world teetering on the brink already it just may be a case of sooner than latter. Today, humanity has developed the technology to further understand the intricacies that would involve interstellar travel. We have to advance our knowledge and with the grace of God preserve what he has given us. Too many though forget, are in denial, or are just plain ignorant to what the greatest gift to man really is. The sanctity of life has to be the priority for all mankind. And, to preserve that we must pick up the gauntlet and proceed with developing the means for interstellar travel.

In a case of life imitating art especially in wake of this up coming film mankind is meant to save humanity and to do that we must face the reality that interstellar travel is vital. There is more truth than we know when the film makes mention that man is not meant to save the world we're meant to leave it. When we know that suns die out eventually, the reality is the hard cold fact life on earth will not last forever. Yet, too often our attention is diverted away in the use of resources and knowledge that should be used to develop the means for interstellar travel and is used instead to destroy life here on earth.

Today, as it turns out mankind continues to reach out into space but so far with very limited success. With all the limitations that currently hamper further space exploration we still are very limited to how far man can really go. The latest endeavor is the Mars I project where we hope to have a manned expedition by the year 2020 land on our neighboring planet. We have to remind ourselves that it has always been that man's inquisitive nature to embark on quests in search for the unknown which has led to some of the worlds greatest technological innovations and inventions. Whether it is in the depths of the oceans and now the far reaches of space mankind has always been so inquisitive as to what is actually down there or up there.

It is our understanding in the laws of physics that were so exquisitely explicit from the writings and research from Tsiolokovsky, Albert Einstein and others that in our understanding of the universe are made up of absolutes. And, yet there just maybe deviations to those absolutes. Many great minds from Galileo, Newton, to Einstein and Hawking have devoted their lives to these absolutes and yet there remains many unexplained instances where these absolutes are called into question time and time again. In our realm of reality one of the absolutes is the speed in which light travels. When we enjoy all those science fiction movies where man is thrust into space at velocities that far exceed that absolute questions arise. One of the most perplexing is that even though it is only science fiction where imagination takes us on that wild ride into the unknown could it be that our understanding of the whole universe is still very limited and those absolutes could be called into question, yet again?

The probability in answering that is one of man's most enduring quests. But, we have to remember that our universe is only one of the infinitesimal number of universes. The likelihood of the laws of physics that pertain in our known realm of reality may not be the same in others. Our quest to understand how the universe works starts with the study of the very basic building blocks of our own existence, matter, energy, space, time, and how they behave under the extreme physical conditions that characterize the evolving of our Universe. Today there is an ongoing study of the physics of the cosmos, namely our own realm of reality. This program incorporates cosmology, high-energy astrophysics, and fundamental physics projects aimed at addressing directly central questions about the nature of complex astrophysical phenomena such as black holes, neutron stars, dark energy, and gravitational waves. We are now able to use and utilize a fleet of space based missions operating across the whole electromagnetic spectrum. It is the goal of this program to learn about the origin and ultimate destiny of the our universe and thereby pertain it to others. Still more questions arise than answers.

It is in this light that our space program whether government sponsored or private enterprises have only limited ways now of exploring space, the final frontier as they say. To felicitate the enormity of such undertakings a global effort would expedite future endeavors into the unknown. Using our known absolutes mankind has ventured farther than ever before, whether it is in the depths of our oceans and now just within the past 70 years into the reaches of space. The International Space Station though still very new has enormous potential to unite more countries that are emerging scientifically. Not only will this generate more enthusiasm for more business growth not only within the scientific community but the potential spin offs of other ventures would be colossal. To skeptics that say why waste money on projects that have practically no bearing on the immediate impact of economic growth completely miss the boat or in this case that spaceship.

It is in man's nature to be so inquisitive. Least we forget all that was accomplished within the past 70 years when man has continued to venture into space. We have to keep in mind as in life that their are no guarantees and in science there is also really no absolutes either. Sure in our realm of reality absolutes apply but that's not to say where in other places far beyond our own ability to comprehend those absolutes we hold dear are completely irrelevant. Those great minds that gave us these absolutes today have given mankind the ability to go forth and the inclination to only further investigate the absolutes that apply to our own realm of reality as we know it may have no bearing in the realms of reality far beyond our ability now to comprehend. In other words, in the far reaches of that final frontier there just maybe another set of absolutes that could very well unlock the mysteries of the cosmos.

The time is now to invest in interstellar space exploration. We have the ability to meet the challenges of the 21st century. But will the US and other countries put aside their differences and join in unison on a collective endeavor to save humanity? That is the ultimate question and we had better answer it soon.