Although a fictional movie, the movie Interstellar shows one scenario that might possibly happen to mankind and all that lives on the planet. In order to deal with the environmental changes, a society responds by training younger generations into farmers so that there might still be food for everyone to eat. However, efforts made in order to preserve the crops are all in vain. As a result, a passionate and devoted crew of individuals decides to take an extremely dangerous trip into the unknown regions of space to save humanity (Nolan). Although this may or may not sound like a cliché storyline to movie fanatics, it proves to be too similar to that of reality. By current rates, the amount of carbon dioxide and other such hazardous emissions into the atmosphere suggest that the Earth might one day be in an Interstellar-esque plight. Humans try as they can to create better technology to improve conditions, but the atmosphere has been ridden with toxins for decades. Also, the rate at which even cars are being taken off the roads is too slow to achieve significant progress in cleaning up the planet. The discussed issue is not about what people need to do to stop global warming though. Instead, it is the opposite – accepting the conditions of the deteriorating Earth and how it is not meant to be saved.

Explorers such as Christopher Columbus thought for the good of society that there was a trade route overseas from Spain to Asia that went through the West. His ambition was to set sail to an area not be completely familiar to him. Nowadays, the unknown lies out in space, and there might just be another home waiting for humans in it. Considering this, that means it is time to jump up efforts in space exploration and develop a so-called Plan-B to preserve human existence. There will be a time when Earth is no longer habitable, and people must make the journey into the reaches of space for survival. The audience may or may not have already been convinced as to why it is important to continue the colonization efforts of other planets; however, other vital questions still need to be answered. These questions include: Where are humans at in the goal of colonizing another planet and making it habitable? What will be used to make these missions possible? What will be the effects of humans living on another planet? And what are the steps even after society’s goals of colonization are achieved?

One might think that the goal of setting a foot on another planet is far off from happening, but that person might be surprised. Many researchers and people concerned with such ideas are already considering Mars, Earth’s red neighbor, a good candidate for a new home and the next step for living on another world. The red planet, Mars, along with Venus resides in the “goldilocks’ zone” of the solar system. The fact that they reside in this region means that there is a better possibility of life either existing on the planets or the planets sustaining life. Scientists, however, have ruled out Venus because of its atmospheric conditions being deemed too dangerous for sustainability. On the other hand, Mars, as described by Stephen Petranek, is similar to Earth in ways; the atmosphere is “100 times thinner than on Earth – and it’s not breathable, it’s 96 percent carbon dioxide” (2:54). There are also significant differences with gravity being less of a factor on the planet -- being much lighter than Earth -- and the temperatures being cooler at minus 81 degrees (Petranek 3:03-3:23). The Martian landscape from photographs seems like a giant, barren desert. Yet, the soil actually is more water-abundant than people would realize. There is not enough readily available water on the planet though. There would need to be a certain kind of extraction method in place in order to retrieve enough water for life to prosper. In general, there are certainly obstacles that must be overcome to live on another planet like Mars. Obstacles take time to overcome on large scales like these, and advanced technologies will be needed.

Mars’ atmosphere, as mentioned previously, is 96 percent carbon dioxide, and humans need an abundant amount of oxygen to survive. Petranek mentions a man that is “…named Michael Hecht. And he’s developed a machine, Moxie… [Moxie] sucks in the Martian atmosphere and pumps out oxygen” (10:03). The machine proves vital to human beings. The machine can be developed on a much larger scale, too, so as to have more effect wherever it is placed. A person then will be able to take a deep breath on somewhere other than Earth -- assuming a certain amount of time is given to change the levels of atmosphere, of course.

Another developing technology is that of a type of de-humidifier. Petranek mentions a device created at the University of Washington in 1998 that would act as a vacuum for water molecules in the atmosphere since the Martian atmosphere can actually achieve levels of 100 percent humidity (9:43). This kind of water extraction method, much like Moxie for generating oxygen, could be developed on a larger scale and gather the vast amounts of water required for life. As mentioned before, the Martian soil contains a large percentage of water, too, so that means some excavation will be done. In recent years, the Curiosity rover examined soil on the Martian landscape and found that the soil consisted of mineral veins that prove evident when water runs through. The chemical makeup of the soil shows that water could have once existed in vast amounts (Greicius). Yet the evidence of these veins shows that water molecules still exist in large quantities in the soil. Excavation techniques such as drilling and converting the water to drinkable form will still require more research.

Developing technologies is clearly important in the long run because humans do not want to rely on their spacesuits forever. One day, people want to be able to walk outdoors on Mars’ terrain and not have to spend time to put on a bulky spacesuit or pressurized habitat just to get outside. Thing is, that seems to be the case until researchers and experts make it possible. That means then that the even more immediate step towards space exploration and colonization is getting someone there in the first place. Who will be the brave people to make the journey? It seems a tough decision because of the chances of survival being slim on these trips. Humans will surely be there eventually, but is the planet exactly ready for people to just plop down on the planet and start the process of terraforming? Robots could do it to start. Agencies such as NASA already put rovers on the planet, so why not continue with more productive technology such as the inventions mentioned to begin terraforming? People already seem to be on the way with this idea.

Sethu Vijayakumar is one of these people. He is leading developer of a robot that claims to be more intelligent than the run-of-the-mill rover that researchers rely so heavily on. The name of the robot is Valkyrie, and the developers claim that the robot shows some amount of autonomy, being that the robot will mostly work on its own. He specifically even states that “These unmanned missions would go ahead of the astronauts and set up habitats. This would allow the astronauts to go and start their experiments without needing to construct labs and living quarters” (Vijayajumar). Robots would be creating a habitable environment for future explorers to land on when they first visit the planet. If humans had to do this by themselves at first, they would be putting themselves at risk in the Martian conditions. In having this kind of technology, it would ensure a possible safe landing for people to one day continue the research needed to explore Mars. It would give the Mars exploration the nice kick-start it would need to get things going.

Apart from the robotics side, more and more people are needed to be remotely prepared to make flights into outer space. As shown by the development of private agencies such as SpaceX, Virgin Mobile decided to create its sister company in Virgin Galactic. Virgin Galactic’s goal was to make commercial space flights actually possible for people other than astronauts. Richard Branson, a co-founder of the company, wants the number of people who can say they have been to space to increase dramatically. His team of developers and employees created spacecrafts developed for taking a specific number of people into space. There have been more people like the one hundred people mentioned in the article who paid $200,000 that would be possible candidates to go into outer space (Anthony). For everyday middle class individuals, however, it might prove a little (as in very) difficult to try to make a flight in one of Branson’s ships. Branson acknowledges that the prices are clearly steep, but he states that “…we’ll slowly but steadily start bringing the price down as we build more spaceships and more spaceports around the world. I would love it if in 20 years’ time people who’d done relatively well can afford to go” (Anthony). As the prices drop, people like Branson will prepare others to go to outer space and hopefully inspire others to be the next pioneers to other worlds. There will be large number of individuals ready to make the ascent to the distant worlds such as Mars or even beyond that.

As the next steps of colonization were mentioned, the implications of the colonization still prove relevant. As people have seen already, Earth is changing due to population growth and due to human’s need of the environment’s resources to survive. So what might that mean for other planets mankind will try to live on? Could humans possibly come up with a better method in preserving planets or are planets doomed when mankind takes a step on them?

Of course the solutions to these questions cannot easily be obtained, but comparing human growth over time might show the key. During the Industrial Revolution, people discovered the use of coal and its powers to generate energy for modes of transportation such as trains, cars and boats. The development of technologies such as these examples propelled humanity’s understanding of transportation and had all sorts of dramatic effects as to how society functioned. However, it was clear that they were not aware of the effects it had on the environment. It is important in regards to colonization, but nowadays, society’s advance in technology has changed for the better. Some cars are now electric, methods of gathering energy can be more environmentally friendly, and the list goes on. Bringing technologies of this kind to other worlds such as Mars should prove less dangerous than our older technologies would.

Humans have left a pretty distinctive mark on Earth and so have other organisms of other kinds. This fact brings up the question about how human life might affect other planets as well. In regards to planets such as Mars, no one yet knows if there is a sign of life on Mars. If there was though and humans set foot on the planet, how would these life forms be affected? Christopher McKay cites “While human action can contribute to life, it can also cause damage if unchecked… alien life forms native on Mars may be endangered by competition with transplanted Earth life” (602-603). It is clear that others acknowledge this idea. However, unless there was a specific way humans could control their interaction with other life forms they could not see, there does not seem to be a clear way that humans could prevent the harm on another planet’s biological signature. On Earth, species come and go, and humans do what they can to preserve the species by conducting research. Yet there is a natural process that is in place that decides what species lives on and what does not, and it has been evident for as long as recordable history. It is not predictable to say what might happen when humans set foot on another planet. What can be said though is that humans will do what they can to recognize other species and preserve them for as long as possible.

Maybe one day humans do make it to Mars, and maybe they are able to make a habitable planet. The benefits of doing so would be influential to humanity’s knowledge of the universe that what is unknown has not been discovered. Who knows what might be uncovered about the universe next if Mars was made possible. But what next? What happens after humans make the journey and complete the objective of interplanetary colonization? The answer lies further out there. As mentioned before, exploration is the idea that people want to discover the unknown. The universe to human knowledge is endless, and the majority of it is still left unseen by humans. There are also plenty of other worlds out there that humans have deemed habitable. For example, within the past month, seven exoplanets were discovered forty light years away surrounding a different Sun other than Earth’s star. They all appeared to be in orbit in the goldilock’s zone mentioned prior. Three of the seven even appear to have bodies of water that may even show signs of other life (Strickland). The so-called TRAPPIST-1 system was so recent that not all of the planets’ orbital periods were accurately determined. This new set of exoplanets proves relevant to the subject because it shows the endless possibilities of life out in the universe that has still been undiscovered. The discoveries also lead to much further goals of extending human influence and, thus, our understanding of the universe. Who knows, “After we are gone, if there is another part of the universe for life to carry on, it may be in the TRAPPIST-1 system.” (Strickland). Life might just one day move on past the solar system.

Although still out of reach for some people, mankind is on the cusp of something great much like the Apollo moon-landing. This generation, in other words the one reading this essay, will probably witness history when the next Neil Armstrong takes the first step onto the next planet and says what they have to say when taking another giant leap. The excitement of such an event will resonate throughout the years to follow and will provide even more passion to the field and its research. However, unfortunately as it is to say, funding is a serious concern for the life of the industry. Individuals such as Elon Musk of SpaceX and Richard Branson of Virgin Galactic could not have made it possible to achieve what they did without other contributions. Not only that, NASA’s industry has fallen short due to its dependence on government funding throughout the years. According to Science, Andrew Lawler recorded that “…Microgravity researchers, earth scientists and astrophysicists have been living for the past several years with lowered expectations… Suck it up and live with it” (1175). According to him, these researchers have been getting the short end of the stick lately, and they seem to be getting the energy sucked right out of them. The only response one can have to this is revolt: people like the ones in these professions must be inspired by what they love but also be allowed to provide for their families from the funds they would receive. Funding these programs will make this possible. People need to see how important this industry is and how vital it is to the understanding of the universe that this society lives in.

The questions that scientists and researchers are concerning themselves with today are: Where are humans at in the goal of colonizing another planet and making it habitable? What will be used to make these missions possible? What will be the effects of humans living on another planet? And what are the steps even after society’s goals of colonization are achieved? Exploring the unknown is in human nature. What one does not know is a disadvantage to that person and society as a whole, so everyone should go and find what lies in the unknown. No matter the problems that arise, in order for human influence to exist, mankind needs to exist in the first place. Earth was the perfect breeding ground for a stable society that humans have built, but it is time to look outward towards the stars. Humans need to recognize that the possibility of life out in space is achievable with the right amounts of ambition, perseverance and passion. Humanity can make it possible because as said by Christopher Nolan and Matthew McConaughey’s Cooper, “Mankind was born on Earth. It was never meant to die here.”
