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The Top 3 Reasons to Colonize Space
By Robert Roy Britt
Senior Science Writer
posted: 07:00 am ET
08 October 2001
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Ensure the Survival of Our Species
It's no secret. Sooner or later, Earth's bell will be rung. A giant asteroid or comet will slam into the planet, as has happened many times before, and a deadly dark cloud will envelop the globe, killing much of whatever might have survived the initial impact.
"We live on a small planet covered with the bones of extinct species, proving that such catastrophes do occur routinely," says J. Richard Gott, III, a professor of astrophysics at Princeton and author of "Time Travel in Einstein's Universe."
Gott cites the presumably hardy Tyrannosaurus rex, which lasted a mere 2.5 million years and was the victim of an asteroid attack, as an example of what can happen if you don't plan ahead.
But space rocks may not be the only threat. Epidemics, climatological or ecological catastrophes or even man-made disasters could do our species in, Gott says. And so, he argues, we need a life insurance policy to guarantee the survival of the human race.
"Spreading out into space gives us more chances," he says.
And the time is now: History instructs that technological hay should be made while the economic sun shines.
"There is a danger we will end the human space program at some point, leaving us stranded on the Earth," Gott warns. "History shows that expensive technological projects are often abandoned after awhile. For example, the Ancient Egyptians quit building pyramids. So we should be colonizing space now while we have the chance."
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