If you thought that the whole concept of the Star Trek Enterprise was fascinating to watch but far too fictitious to be true, then one can safely bet that you are right for a long, long time in to the future. But if you thought the same way next time you were watching ‘Total Recall’, then you might be woefully wrong. If NASA gets its way, then very soon we will all be in training camps, making sure we understand the principles of levitation in outer space and electromagnetic radiation. Total Recall, according to NASA, is the next step in evolution.
Evolution is the simple process that has kept us alive till date on this planet. While species come and go, the fact is every organism has evolved to ensure the sustenance of life on the planet. To put it in simple terms, for nature all life is the same and one. It is the successful continuation of existence of this life that matters to it. Ironically, for man life and existence is almost only himself. So instead of letting nature’s evolution help, he is now thinking of evolving in a different way- with the help of science. Man hopes that his existence is assured by the brainchild that he conceived and nourished over centuries.
NASA is exactly planning that, by making sure that it trains more astronauts and maybe some civilians to make sure that one day they can step on moon and maybe go on to live on Mars. The plan is very simple and it is to obviously inhabit Mars when we probably have no more of a planet left to exploit out here. It will not be as simple as directing a movie with Martian sets though. Water and stable atmosphere temperatures are needed. Injecting methane in to the atmosphere of Mars and hopefully a more stable temperature will see the polar ice caps of Mars melt and provide water.
But all this is still almost far too impossible to achieve any time in the near future. Moon is the first stop to the destination. NASA’s currently planning a lunar outpost where astronauts could stay for a week at a time. In 2020, this Orion spacecraft will take astronauts there to start building it. Training is being designed in Antarctica to replicate the rough conditions on Mars.
There are flights planned for next year to take people to the edge of our atmosphere. So maybe a holiday touching the stars and flirting with the moon may not be that far away. But one surely hopes the day will not come when we do indeed need to migrate to Mars. Then we might be akin to nothing more than locust who infest, destroy and move on. Remember ‘Independence Day’? Now we don’t want to be the bad guys of the flick, do we? If the plan to move to Mars is an ‘Insurance Cover’, then let us hope we never need to claim it. We have only one home and that is down here and if we work hard enough, it is more than capable of being home to all of us.
