If we can establish a Mars colony, we can almost certainly colonise the whole Solar System, because we’ll have created a strong economic forcing function for the improvement of space travel...But the key is that we have to make the Mars thing work. If we’re going to have any chance of sending stuff to other star systems, we need to be laser-focused on becoming a multi-planet civilisation. That’s the next step.”
― Elon Musk
"Houston,
we have a problem!"
The mission of this Gold Award Project
What We
DO
Know and What We
DON'T
Know
Space has always been an interest of mine and last summer I got the chance to attend the National Space Society Space Conference in Virginia. I learned details about the space societies plans to get man into space anytime between 2026 to 2040. Written out, it seems centuries away, years past our lifetime, but really, it’s right around the corner. Now of course once 2030 comes around, NASA isn't going to start shuttling people into space without any preparation or notice. This should be a gradual process, or a series of “small steps”, that will lead to the completion of a greater goal. The Moon and Mars are the two vacation spots scientists are currently looking at. While these two places are currently being explored, there is a lot that we don't know about them. However, one thing that we DO know is that no matter how close they are, they are not Earth. Right now scientists are analyzing resources that would last close-to forever in space like the metals, forms of shelter, matters of transportation, as well as other necessary resources that we need in order to live. But there is one important thing that several scientists are overlooking, or at least failing to make a priority: a government system.
How can we plan for the creation of a new society in a new, never used before environment? How can we expect space living to last without a form of order? How can we…? “We” is one of several words that we take for granted. As citizens of the U.S., we tend to forget that words like “we” and “us” refer to people both in and outside of the states. Russia, China, India. These are arguably some of our biggest competitors in the everlasting space race. We must understand that in order to create a Space Bill of Rights, we need to analyze and understand the Constitutions and law forms of other countries around us because we don't own space, nor do we have the money or the right to do so in the future. Space is not owned by one specific person, country, planet, or galaxy; remember that. Now why would we shift our focus to a government system just for space when we have a well-functioning government and alliance system right now? The list of differences between Earth and other planets could go on forever, one of them being that some of the resources we have here may not be available on Mars or the Moon and vise versa; therefore, the trade deals we have with other countries may no longer be valid considering the resources they have may not be of necessity to us anymore. It’s things like this we have to keep in mind when talking about moving to a new society or world. A Space Bill of Rights is what we are trying to create in order to make one small step towards the possibility of visiting or living in space.
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