Is a future in space the future of man?
It will not be too long before humans are living in space, panelists said Wednesday at the Conference on World Affairs.
At the panel “Life in Space: Leaving the Pale Blue Dot Behind,” astronomer Seth Shostak said space travel is likely in the future.
“Artificial habitats, or rotating aluminum cans, at some point will be less expensive than some condo in Arizona,” Shostak said. “We are eventually going to have to leave.”
Shostak is an astronomer at the SETI Institute in the Silicon Valley and is currently involved in a search for extraterrestrial intelligence.
Space travel sparked America’s interest in 1969 with the lunar landing, and since then has further expanded. While space travel used to be unthinkable, the idea of living in space is actually in the near future.
Panelists said humans will most likely have to make the move to space because of Earth’s inability to support its growing population for much longer.
“Where are we going to go? Move outside of our solar system?” observational astronomer Alex Filippenko said.
Panelists discussed the possibility of living on Mars, artificial habitats in space, or traveling to other galaxies.
Filippenko said there were dangers associated with space travel.
The third panelist was Loretta Hidalgo Whitesides, who is an astrobiologist and expert in human space exploration.
While many of the audience members at the panel were already informed on the possibility of living in space, the panelists said there is still a huge percentage of the population that needs to learn about the potential for human movement into space.
“Bringing together humanity is part of space exploration,” Whitesides said.
Contact Campus Press Staff Writer Zach Keller at john.keller@thecampuspress.com.
