Excluding Earth’s oceans, humankind has yet to identify an expanse as vast, uncharted, and potentially life-altering as outer space. We have already learned quite a bit in astronomy’s relatively short existence, but recent technological advancements and exploration-based findings suggest our biggest breakthroughs remain on the horizon.
Still, for many, the space industry is both enigmatic and daunting in its complexity. Some may not even be aware of the depth to which space-related initiatives have gone in recent years, and this is unfortunate, as such advancements could stand to redefine our very existence in the coming years.
That said, here are five conversation starters to spur a potential interest in space.
“Space contains phenomena unlike anything we’ve seen”
While most people have at least a vague understanding of space’s basic composition, less know of its countless celestial phenomena, bodies, and events that, in many ways, transcend anything humankind has experienced. These factors range from Thorne-Zytkow objects and the Fermi bubbles to primordial black holes – all of which contain literal otherworldly qualities capable of inspiring a range of emotions. Space contains the beautiful, the disturbing, the perplexing, and the thought-provoking all at once, and this notion is a great starting point for inspiring space-related passion.
“There is still so much about space we do not know”
With the previous point in mind, it is also important to note space’s almost incomprehensible depth. Existing space-related research and infrastructure, while deep in its own right, is only just scratching the surface of space’s potential. Moving forward, we could very well uncover new astronomical events, planets, and even instances of distant intelligent life. The unknown, in this sense, makes space an infinitely interesting concept.
“Space technology is among our most advanced”
Entities like NASA, SpaceX, Blue Origin, and Virgin Galactic are constantly pushing the boundaries of possibility for space-oriented technology. These breakthroughs arguably represent the most ambitious, advanced body of technological disruption in human history, including – but not limited to – expansive satellite internet coverage, increased awareness of the human body’s response to deep-space exploration, and revolutionary galactic observation.
“Space helps us learn more about Earth”
Though many often link the future of humankind to venturing and existing beyond Earth, our space efforts have also helped us maintain a higher quality of on-Earth living. Space exploration has informed and progressed society for decades, and lately, it has produced strides in food safety, raw material sourcing, medical intervention, asteroid aversion, and various other fields inextricably linked to our survival and collective knowledge.
“The next few decades could bring unprecedented space discoveries”
The future of space exploration currently goes hand-in-hand with many concepts historically relegated to science fiction; this includes the aforementioned possibility of finding evidence of life elsewhere in the Universe, and expands to developing factors like autonomous spacecraft, fully reusable rockets, and advanced space stations. To actualize this future, however, the industry must continue welcoming ambitious new professionals focused on pushing boundaries, and this is why we need to continue inspiring space-related interest and creating the cosmic visionaries of tomorrow.
