This week saw the gathering of 400+ scientists worldwide for the first annual Lunar Science Conference at the NASA/Ames Research Center in Mountain View, Calif. The topic of discussion centered on getting the gears spinning for sending humans to the moon…to live there. Initial crews could be sent within the next 20 years. And there’s no turning back, as they’ll be tasked with setting up the infrastructure necessary to sustain life, while also honing in on manned missions to Mars and eventually, other planets.
“We’re going back, and this time we’re going to stay,” proclaims NASA/Ames director S. Pete Worden.
The idea of setting up shop on the moon is met with some opposition. For me, I’m not so much opposed to it as I am skeptical, despite the information I’ve gained from TV documentaries, articles and such that tells me this is the real deal. But my questions remain: Is moon dwelling realistic? Is it a waste of resources and taxpayers’ money? Are we willing to embrace such a concept? Will it even work?
These are questions yet to be fully answered, along with hundreds of others. But if anything is to be said about human ingenuity, it’s that these researchers will find a way to make this work. Bottom line is that we won’t have a choice. It seems that overpopulation, depleting resources and climate change are all ready to destroy this planet at some point in time.
Since it’s pretty unlikely in my lifetime that Earth folks will start taking up residence in space, I find it difficult to imagine the magnitude, the excitement and the potential consequences of this mission. I’m definitely interested to see how this all plays out. However, with my fear of flying, I’m just glad I’ll never have to do it.
