Moving to Other Planets

Governments around the world should invest heavily into research and development of space colonization, because of the vast benefits proven by research in protecting the human species, helping decrease overpopulation, and solving economic problems present on Earth.

Space colonization can save humanity. It has been argued by famous scientists such as Stephen Hawking that “we colonize space within the next two hundred years, or we will face the prospect of long-term extinction.” Space colonies allow humans to avoid the possibilities of extinction from events such as nuclear wars, natural disasters, and other potential events that would cause the Earth to become uninhabitable. Critics argue that these disasters, like war, could be stopped from happening in the first place. However, some potential disasters are unavoidable. While it might be scary to think about things like nuclear war (looking at you Kim Jong Un), if humans colonize new planets, it would lessen the impact of any of those events.

Setting up new colonies would also lessen the problem of overpopulation of earth according to researchers like Peter Vajk. It is well-known that tens of millions of humans don’t have access to necessities due to a lack of supply in many areas. As the population of countries like India, China, and others continues to grow, many worry that more people will not have access to running water or food. Space colonies would be able to eventually produce their resources and take advantage of the vast amount of resources on different planets. In the end, this will give more access to supplies for the people remaining on Earth which would reduce world hunger and even reduce the spread of disease caused by lack of water, food, and more. Quality of life on Earth will also increase as overpopulation problems become less common.

NASA has extensively detailed the possibilities of mineral availability in space. Asteroids and other planets have been proven to have plenty of valuable minerals that can be used in all types of manufacturing processes. Through a process called “Optical mining”, the resources could be obtained safely and efficiently. This would provide countless new jobs to thousands of people that colonize space. Space commercialization would reduce excessive industrial development on Earth. Asteroid mining can also provide water and other materials to sustain large colonies. This would allow for space colonization to become even more self-sufficient and lessen their burden on governments on Earth. Some governments would even be able to collect some revenue from this and spend more on education, healthcare, and infrastructure on Earth. In a 2001 interview with J. Richard Gott, he described how humans could “make money through solar-power satellites” which could also power the mining operations. This would decrease fossil fuel usage on Earth too. Not exhausting minerals on earth would also increase life expectancy and decrease environmental hazards caused by mining, fracking, and similar activities.

The investment into space colonization would only benefit the human race. Through space colonies, people would be able to save the human race, help overpopulation, and boost the global economy.