Main Reasons why Humans Remain Earthbound Essay

Main Reasons why Humans Remain Earthbound - Essay Example As such, as science has grown and developed throughout the years, one of the primal questions that have been born from this original question of the solitary nature of life within the universe is a better understanding and more complete explanation of the universe in which we dwell. For this reason as well as for many others, scientists have long sought to find ways in which to explore the bounds of the neighborhood in which the Earth and the Milky Way galaxy ultimately reside. The extant problem that is illustrated though is the fact that there are a number of constraints that provide an ultimate barrier to humans traveling to other solar systems throughout our galaxy. As such, this brief analysis will consider the key issues that constrain mankind to inter solar system travel (and a limited amount of that). Furthermore, by analyzing each of several different viewpoints for how exploration within and without of our own galaxy might seek to take place, as well as analyzing the key we aknesses inherent in each, it is the hope of this author that the reader might be able to come to a better understanding of just what is preventing us from further exploring and/or colonizing other regions of the universe. The first of these is the fact that the distances that must be traveled are so vast as to be nearly incomprehensible. As a function of this understanding, the reader should come to an appreciation of the fact that distance within the universe is calculated not in miles or kilometers but rather in light years; i.e. the distance covered by a beam of light during the period of a year’s time. To understand just how vast such a distance is, one must understand that the actual speed of light is something approaching 300,000,000 meters per second. As such, the reader can begin to comprehend the actual distance that a single light year actually represents. Furthermore, due to the fact that the nearest star to our own Sun is that of Alpha Centuri, one might assume t hat it would be most reasonable to visit this one as a means of further exploring our universe and understanding the many nuances that exist within it. However, the fact of the matter is that although Alpha Centuri is the closest star, besides our own Sun, it is nonetheless 4.2 light years away (Corley, 2012). This distance provides a seemingly insurmountable obstacle to the current technology that exists. For instance, scientists and researchers in the Russian Federation have been performing extensive rounds of testing on how a manned mission to Mars would affect the health of the crew members. This has been done by isolating a crew of several individuals and putting them in a replicative environment that would simulate the same stresses, both physical and psychological, that such a mission would necessarily engender. Although the trip to and from Mars would take a little under a year’s time, the strain and pressures of sustaining life aboard an unnatural environment for suc h an extended period of time present a whole array of challenges which are but a brief understanding of the means that such pressures would be realized should a longer voyage be undertaken (Landau & Strange, 2011). Although an understanding of the means by which our universe has come into existence, continues to expand, and will ultimately experience a heat death, the science and technology governing astrophysics and space exploration has advanced greatly since the first manned trip into space. However, surprisingly, one aspect of technology that has not developed at all is with