Moon Base Logical Next Step in Space Exploration

Launching a rocket from Earth to space requires a large amount of fuel to overcome gravity and to get out of Earth's atmosphere. The extra weight of the spacecraft and the expensive cost of fuel make launching from the moon instead of Earth a possibly cheaper idea when talking about sending out satellites and astronauts to farther and farther reaches of our galaxy.

The moon would be the best first step in creating a launching point for deep space exploration. The initial cost to set up a moon base would be costly, but in the long run, a cheaper investment overall if we expect to eventually reach destinations such as Mars or even asteroids to mine for materials.

There has been speculation that a rocket can achieve a higher speed if launched from a lower gravity location. Earth's atmosphere and gravity slow rockets down at the initial launch. If humanity were to build a base on the moon, the peak speed reached by a rocket could be higher.

Eventually humanity needs to get off Earth as it is. In the short term, we may have to escape Earth because of the damage we have created through climate change. In the long term, the sun is a growing star that is ever expanding and eventually life on Earth will have to adapt and most likely leave the planet to avoid extinction (if we aren't extinct already).

There are resources elsewhere in our galaxy if we intend to explore our solar system and beyond. Asteroids have various elements that we can use to explore even farther. Moons of several planets are believed to possible have water as well. NASA is also finding exo-planets which could contain useful materials.

Space is our final frontier and if we expect to expand the lifespan of our species, we need to start with space bases. Starting with the moon seems to be easiest and most logical place to start.

Halloween Asteroid to Buzz by Earth

Nine days from now, on Halloween night, our planet will be getting buzzed by an asteroid that will be flying nearby. Hurling through space at 78,830 miles-per-hour, the asteroid is expected to safely pass by Earth with no problem. The asteroid that is called 2015 TB145, will be as close as 300,000 miles from Earth, which is just a little farther that our own moon at 238,900 miles.

This particular asteroid is fairly large in size at 2,034 feet in diameter. In comparison, the asteroid that exploded over the Russian city of Chelyabinsk in 2013 was only 66 feet across before it disintegrated and caused a load of damage to buildings.

Now while NASA has informed us that this won't be a threat to the world, it wasn't discovered until three weeks before it is scheduled to fly by the planet. If this had be a serious threat to colliding with Earth, this wouldn't be enough time for us to do anything. Even the best prospective plans that scientists have come up with would require more advanced notice than three weeks. We would be doomed. I'm sure there might be a conspiracy nut or two that might be claiming that 2015 TB145 IS a planet killer and that NASA isn't being truthful with us.

Now what if this isn't an asteroid that will miss us? JPL scientists estimate an asteroid the size of a house, traveling at 30,000 miles-per-hour would be approximately equal to the power of the energy released from the atomic bomb that flattened Hiroshima. 2015 TB145 is traveling over twice as fast and is at least forty times larger. This is supposed to be the biggest asteroid scheduled to pass by Earth until 2027, so if this one passes, at least for the next twelve years, they won't be as big.

This only exacerbates the need for humanity to A) develop a way to find potential "Earth Killers" sooner, B) develop a way to destroy them when they are getting too close, C) and eventually find a way to colonize planets or other planetary bodies to preserve the human species.

While this asteroid will be flying close by and is over 2,000 feet in diameter, you'll still need a telescope to catch a visual of it on Halloween night. That is if you're not too busy passing out candy.

Photo Courtesy of NASA

The "Doomsday Generation"

In a generation that has yet to be defined, I believe I have a suggestion. The "Doomsday Generation." In the 1940s there was the "Greatest Generation" and in the 1960s you have the "Flower Power Generation", but the current generation is a lot more gloomier...and they like it.

In a Reuters poll, 15 percent of people worldwide, believe that the world will end in their lifetime. In a separate Newsweek poll, up to 71 percent of Evangelical Protestants believe the world will end in their lifetime. Out of that 71 percent, 28 percent are "looking forward" to the end of time.

Nearly one in four people who identified themselves with a religion, are happy because they believe the world will end while they are alive. Why? Presumably, many of these people have kids and grandkids. Don't they want their relatives to enjoy a full life? It's one thing to believe in a glorious afterlife, but why rush it?

In another Newsweek poll, in the November 1st issue, 47 percent of people who believe in the  Armageddon prophecy from The Bible, believe that the Anti-Christ is already walking this planet and is setting his plans in motion.

Large majorities of believers in the second coming of Christ believe that current events such as natural disasters (83 percent), epidemics like AIDS and Ebola (66 percent) and outbreaks of violence like shootings (62 percent), are a sign that it will happen soon.

This doesn't even count the people out there that believe in a more science-based ending to humanity and/or our planet. This demographic believes that the world will end via climate change, nuclear weapons, asteroid, or disease/famine.

In the past 15 years alone, there have been two major dates that passed, that were believed to be the end of the world. Y2K was supposed to be the end of the world because many people believed computers would reset themselves to 1900, instead of 2000. One in five people actually believed that Y2K would produce at least some tragic accident.

For those that are into the Mayans, they believed that on December 21, 2012, that the planets would align, ripping the planet apart, or that an asteroid would connect with Earth and send us into the fourteenth b'ak'tun . The day passed just as any other would, and some people were actually depressed that nothing major occurred.

Even the head of one of America's largest churches, John Hagee of the Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, which has 20,000 followers, announced that he believed that the world would end in 2005 when Islamic and Russian states invade Israel and be destroyed by God. This would allow the head of the European Union, who he believed to be the Anti-Christ, to create further confrontation over Israel, between China and the West.

It just seems absurd that people of this generation, seem to welcome some sort of end to our world. Has this generation become so jaded, that they don't care about the future of humanity, let alone the future of their own family? Whether it's simple curiosity or some sort of dislike for one's fellow man, there are too many people out there, literally hoping for the worst.

This is why I term this generation, "The Doomsday Generation." Even with all the advancements in culture, science, and human relations, people are more negative than ever. Instead of looking for ways to end the world and even encourage it, people should be finding ways to preserve it and even preserve the human race.