Why Do We Explore Space?       Why should mankind explore space? Why should money, time and effort be spent exploring, investigating and researching something with so few benefits? Why should resources be spent on space rather than on conditions and people on Earth, or in our own country.
        Perhaps the best answer lies in our genetic makeup. What drove our distant ancestors to move from the trees into the plains? Was it the lack of skills to compete in one ecological niche? If so, the adaptations selected for after the move have resulted in a species expanding into all
possible areas and environments. The drive to spread genetic material and ensure the success of not just the species, but of one type of genetic
material. The wider the distribution of a species, the better the chance of survival.
       Perhaps the best reason for exploring space is the built in genetic predisposition to expand into all possible niches.
        Culturally nearly every successful civilization has been willing to explore. In exploring, dangers of surrounding areas may be learned and
prepared for. Dangers may be political enemies in neighboring cultures, physical features of the area,  a change in the area which might effect
food supplies or any other number of factors. All pose a real danger and all may be made less dangerous if certain preparations are made. Without knowledge, the danger may strike and completely destroy. With knowledge, the effects or consequences may be lessened.
        Exploration also allows resources to be located. Resources translate into power and success at survival. Whether the success be
financial, political or genetic additional resources are always a boon when used wisely. In any of the three manners, use of resources allows a
heightened percentage for survival. If the resources have no immediate need, then perhaps later the resources will be used.
       Resources may be more than physical assets. Knowledge or techniques acquired in exploring or preparing to explore always filter from the
developers to the general populace. Techniques may be medical applications, uses for drugs or ways of living to increase the quantity of time lived or the quality of that time. Techniques may be social, allowing the people in a society to better understand  those within or outside the culture. Better understanding may lead to better use of resources or a lessening of outright competition for the resources.
        While many resources are spent on what seems a small return, the exploration of space allows the creative, the brave, the intelligence of
our species to focus on what may serve to save us. While space may hold many wonders and explanations of how the universe was formed or how it works, it also holds dangers. The chance of a large asteroid or comet hitting the earth is small. But given time, it will happen. Several current models of evolution propose many changes in a very short time period. Some explanations for the drastic speed of extinction and evolution include strikes by asteroids or comets.
        Human technology is reaching the point where it might be able to detect such a threat and allow us to do something about it. The danger
exist, knowledge can allow us as a species to survive. Without the ability to reach out across space, the chance to save ourselves might not exist.
        While Earth is the only planet known to sustain life, surely the adaptive ability of humans would allow other planets and moons to become
inhabited. True the life style would be different, but human life and cultures have adapted in the past and surely could in the future. Our
genetic makeup will allow humans to move into unoccupied niches and flourish.
        The culture group holding the high ground, in this case space, has attained a great advantage over other groups. It can see farther, act sooner and be safer from attack. In space all of these things are true. The culture which expands is like and organism which adapts. It may be found everywhere. If one group is eliminated, the species as a whole survives.
       The old adage, do not put all your eggs in one basket hold true for humans and cultures. The more a culture expands, the less chance of it
becoming extinct. Space allows us to expand and succeed.

[Return To Issues on Space Exploration][Return to Main]