When it comes down to it, technology is one of the main limiting factors when it comes to space travel; we simply have not yet created efficient enough machines to sustain life for extended periods of time in space. This is such an issue because the sheer distance in between the many planets that scientists would like to study and the Earth is so great that the travel time to these planets could be many months or even years. For instance, if scientists plan to send a man to Mars and have him return safely back to Earth, they not only have to engineer machines capable of safely transporting life through extremely hostile conditions, but they also have to provide enough food, water, and other necessary amenities for an astronaut to survive for almost a year away from the Earth. On top of this, they also have to consider the amount of time the astronaut will be spending on Mars conducting studies. Not only are the expenses of all these requirements great, but it is also worth noting that the current energy sources for space travel – either a combination of liquid hydrogen and oxygen, or other methods like the use of solar panels – are simply not capable of producing the energy required for extensive trips. They are not lightweight, long-lasting and reliable enough for us to travel to the distant reaches of the universe. All of this means that based on our current capabilities, missions to Mars, which is the closest of the many planetary bodies astronomers would like to study, simply seem unrealistic.
For the foreseeable future, it doesn’t look like any human will match the description of Elton John’s “Rocket Man.”
Does this mean that the many astronomers excited about Martian travel should quit their work and come to terms with the fact that humans may never step foot on Mars? Not quite – in fact, there seems to be one viable method left for space travel – nuclear fusion. Although nuclear fusion is always occurring in the cores of stars all around the universe, we have not yet found a way to reproduce it on Earth. But, let’s put that aside for now and focus on what it could do for us should we find a way to safely utilize it. Our current methods of creating energy via chemical reactions are simply not viable for long term space travel – it could take over 150,000 years to get to Alpha Centauri, the nearest star to our sun, using our current methods. However, if we took advantage of nuclear energy, that same trip might only take 100 years. Sure, this is still a hefty travel time, but this is much closer to where we need to be if we humans plan to be colonizers of the cosmos. All it takes is implementation. If we start actively investing in nuclear energy and showing people exactly how useful it could be (this super-efficient source of energy would not be limited only to space travel, it could revolutionize many fields of study), we may soon find a good way to control it. If this happens, our dreams of going to Mars (and much, much further) are not unrealistic at all.
If you’re interested about this and want to learn more, watch this TedxYouth talk that an old classmate of mine presented here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJrOJzF0IiY
