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1-Page Summary of The Future of Humanity
Overview
Science fiction movies and books often depict a future where people live in huge, self-contained spaceships. However, is this really possible? Would it be possible to make harsh planets habitable by building large cities there?
Some of the most popular elements in science-fiction are becoming a reality. Many wealthy entrepreneurs are investing in space shuttles and other technologies that will help establish an Earth supply line to places like the moon and Mars.
We’re also making progress in other areas, like nanotechnology and artificial intelligence. We’ll be able to search for hospitable planets in other galaxies and build homes on them.
This passage has three important points. First, lava tubes on Mars may be useful to future generations of astronauts who are looking for places to live off-planet. Second, carbon nanotubes could solve the problem of living in space. Third, light sails may help us find a new home for humanity.
Big Idea #1: For over a century now, scientists have been nerding out on rockets.
Space travel has been in the news a lot lately, with privately owned companies like SpaceX making headlines.
Launching rockets into space has been a human endeavor for quite some time. People have been doing it since before the 1950s, when there was an international race to get into space between the United States and Russia.
The first major scientific breakthrough in space travel came from the Russian scientist Konstantin Tsiolkovsky. In 1903, he published work that included the Tsiolkovsky equation, which provided a solid mathematical relationship between a rocket’s fuel and the rate of speed it could achieve. With this equation, scientists could now calculate how much fuel was needed to travel to Mars or even beyond.
The work of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky laid the foundation for later rocket scientists, like Robert Goddard. It was Goddard who made a breakthrough with using liquid fuel and multiple-staged rockets that jettisoned their tanks after use.
In the 1940s, Germany was militarizing and had a major push for advancement in weapons. A scientist named Wernher Von Braun was working on rockets that were used as weapons during this time. He worked with the Nazis because he received funding from them, but didn’t really care about politics or anything else; he just wanted to work on his rocket science!
Von Braun had a lot of money and the best scientists at his disposal. He made a rocket that was three times faster than sound and couldn’t be shot down. It would also prove to be devastating when used as a missile against cities, such as London and Antwerp, in 1944.
Von Braun was arrested by the Gestapo after witnessing labor camps that were used to build his rockets. He expressed regret about contributing to the Nazi war machine, but he would be integral in winning the space race against Russia and America.
Big Idea #2: Humans first landed on the moon in the 1960s, but now there is renewed interest in returning.
The US was behind the Soviet Union in its space race after two events: Sputnik, a satellite launched by the Soviets and Yuri Gagarin’s first human orbit of Earth.
The US had a goal to put a man on the moon. However, it was not successful until 1969 when NASA’s Apollo 11 mission accomplished this feat. This dream became reality thanks to Wernher von Braun who invented the Saturn V rocket that made it possible for Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to land on the moon safely.
When the US landed on the moon, it was a big deal. However, interest in space exploration fell in the 1970s as poverty and war plagued America. With no money to spend on NASA projects, they didn’t seem important anymore. Nowadays we have billionaires who want to fund their own dreams for space travel and colonization of the moon. Blue Origin has already created a rocket system called New Shepard that isn’t designed to get us all the way there but could be used for tourism purposes instead. Jeff Bezos has long-term goals beyond tourism though: he wants to create an infrastructure that will allow earthlings to deliver supplies from earth to the moon — which is a first step towards making it a viable living option for humans.
