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Human Spaceflight: the Pursuit of Happiness (continued)
I believe that we ought to pursue human spaceflight because that is what we love to do, and humans have been made to explore. Traveling into space is all about discovering the truth for ourselves, and that makes the universe priceless. Maybe not everyone finds truth in outer space, but it is necessary that we provide the opportunity for those, like me, who do love exploring the universe to do so. I have no doubt been influenced by the fact that I have grown up in the Information Age, when space travel has been relatively easy--unlike the era in which Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, the Soviet rocket pioneer, grew up: he could only dream of reaching the moon. One of my favorite pastimes includes stepping outside, even if just for a few minutes, to watch for satellites passing overhead and gaze at some of the brightest stars in the sky. I practice searching for the constellations, and I occasionally attempt some astrophotography. I wonder, as I always have, what it would be like to float free in space, to hop across the moon under the influence of its minute gravity, to hold the iron-rich Martian soil in my hand, to stand on Pluto in the icy depths of the solar system. This is all the result of my insatiable desire to explore the heavens--and perhaps that does not require that humans leave the earth's atmosphere, but I do think that it is important for humans to travel into space. As long as human spaceflight remains important, if only for the reason that it makes us happy because we love to learn about space, then we ought to continue to support the program.
What should foster our interest in space exploration is the persistent desire to seek truth, to learn as much as we can about our universe. Maria Mitchell, the United States' first woman astronomer from Nantucket Island, Massachusetts, asks: "Can the study of truth do harm? Does not every true scientist seek only to know the truth? And in our deep ignorance of what is truth, shall we dread the searching after it?" (Albers 2001, 287). Perhaps the quest for truth is dangerous, but that, by no means, signifies that we should not pursue it. Stepping into space can only advance our knowledge and make us better people. The further out into the infinite universe we fly, the more we can understand about it and the more we can understand about ourselves. It is our natural ability to learn and process information: we all want to know if we are alone in the universe, how Earth gave rise to human life, and why we are here. I do not think we need an excuse, like financial gain or national prestige, to permit human space travel. Our only hindrance is ourselves--if we stop questioning and simply believe that we are doing the right thing by exploring space, we can continue to grow in wisdom. And how can we stop now, after all that we have already accomplished?
We fulfilled Kennedy's commitment to land on the moon, and since then, spaceflight has become a significant part of our lives. However, we have also since questioned the intent of the human spaceflight program: is it worthwhile? This is obviously a subjective point of discussion, based on certain priorities, but this it what I conclude: despite the controversies provoked by human spaceflight, it is quite unreasonable to abandon the program altogether. Though the program has created various, reasonable causes for concern, it is still important that we continue making progress because we have already reaped so many benefits from the human spaceflight program. It may seem like a lot of taxpayers' dollars are being spent on the space program, but NASA has consistently consumed only about one percent of the national budget, and there are many intangible benefits which are priceless. Ideally, we ought to work collaboratively with robots in space in order to achieve a decent balance between robotic spaceflight and human spaceflight. Then, we do not have to worry about being one extreme or the other, and our time in space will be more productive because we will be using technology to help ourselves. Yet, the only issue that truly matters is the emotional experience of human space travel. It is most important that we not suppress our natural desire to explore the universe in hopes of discovering why we are here. It is our duty as human beings to glean what wisdom we can from the universe--and if that is what makes us happy, then what harm is there in that?
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