Space Colonization Argumentative Blog

Space exploration and colonization have been a topic of debate in recent years, especially with how far SpaceX and Elon Musk along with others have gotten with technology. Recent developments in technology make this task seem closer and closer to a reality. There are many things to consider when it comes to space exploration. As soon as you leave Earth’s atmosphere, it is very hard to survive. Severe amounts of radiation from cosmic rays and solar flares make exploring in space really difficult. Also there’s the factor of sustainability and being able to sustain life on another planet. 

While it seems necessary that if we as a human race want to prosper, we will eventually need to consider moving ourselves to other planets in order to survive, I would like to argue that now is not the time to be trying to colonize on other planets. I do believe space colonization will be necessary in the future, but for right now, there are 3 things that are making this time not the time to do so.

• It is far too expensive to even leave Earth’s atmosphere

• Adapting the planet to meet our needs will be costly and many methods are experimental

• We have a lot of time left until this will become a necessity

Currently to leave Earth’s atmosphere costs around $1400 per kg or $640 per lbs. That might not seem like a lot, but considering how much one spaceship weighs and carries, it ends up being extremely expensive. However, there is research going on trying to reduce this cost, maybe even all the way down to $20 per kg, but this has not been successful yet. Even if this research proves successful, this is the easier part of exploration.

Colonizing on a planet is a whole different story. This would require all sorts of things to be done to the planet. Terraforming the planet so that humans can live on it is experimental, and takes a very long time. Before the planet becomes habitable, we also need to consider sustainability beforehand. That’s gonna require a lot of resources, since that planet is technically uninhabitable until terraforming is complete.

Stephen Hawkings predicted that in a 1000 years from now that the human race could be completely extinct. What’s even more daunting is that he said if we don’t start colonizing within a couple hundred years, we could face long-term extinction. That’s a very small time limit to get things ready for colonization. What I would like to argue however, is that now more than ever it is important that we take care of our own planet. The more time we have to develop these technologies to colonize space with our own planet, the chances are higher that the efforts will be more successful. As Nick Bostrom argued, it is more important to reduce existential risks than to be sooner.