Were you ever asked if you believed in aliens? Did you answer no but think at the back of your mind how huge the universe is. Keeping in mind, the new found discoveries of signs of life in the solar system and how many undiscovered elements scientists have yet to find, makes it hard to not have an open mind to the possibilities. An article written by Neel V. Patel, titled “NASA Is Pivoting to Astrobiology” explains how in year 2020, the mission to Titan, called ‘Dragonfly’, will be sending a drone spacecraft out to the moon to study potential habitability, and signs of capability of hosting life or already hosting. Why the moon Titan? Titan is thought to possess a subsurface liquid ocean that is possibly a breeding ground for biological life. Its dense atmosphere containing methane and nitrogen, and other conditions encourages scientists hopes to find signs of extraterrestrial life. In my opinion, finding life on Earth is probably not as important as climate change, or global warming, today’s current issue that has supporting evidence that the temperature has warmed over the years. Space contributes to this in someway since we can monitor climate from above. Within the past years, research has shown that the more we learn about life on Earth, life’s origin, evolution, and discoveries the more chances and possibilities there are that extraterrestrial life does exist. Scientists used to not be able to do such investigations due to lack of advanced technology or not enough gathered evidence. Technology has advanced greatly since the 19th century. Recent studies like these shed new light on new planets that show more qualities of earth-like similarities, which previous studies had not addressed. Over time, scientists have found 3,504 exoplanets (planets beyond our own solar system) in the last few decades. About 53 of those exoplanets have been confirmed to be potentially habitable. These findings challenge the work of earlier researchers who have said otherwise, probably due to lack of technology. I agree and support space travel as it inspiring to all generations and helps us in different ways. For example, monitoring climate change, discovering new information, improving our understanding of things such as the human body, and improvement in technology. It has developed very much over time and people are very intrigued and inspired by space travel. In history, the three Great Ages of Exploration contributed to new discoveries and globalization; the Age of Exploration in the 15th and 16th centuries was associated with Prince Henry, Columbus, and other European explorers. The Second Age in the 18th and 19th centuries consisted of geographic exploration, also associated with the scientific revolution. The Third Age included the beginning of sputnik, the first artificial Earth satellite launched in 1957.
In addition to mission Dragonfly, NASA will launch its Mars 2020 rover to the red planet with the goal of investigating whether Mars was once a habitable home to extraterrestrial organisms. The spacecraft ‘Juno’ is currently orbiting Jupiter, surveying the planet and its atmosphere to collect data whether gas giants are a kind of chemical lab for materials essential to life. Scientists are also doing studies to see if each destination is a good candidate for signs of life. For example, ocean worlds ‘Enceladus’ and ‘Europa’ are worthy destinations for the search of extraterrestrial life also, scientists have discovered they have a subsurface ocean as well. According to National Ocean Service, liquid surface water is a rare find in our solar system and so far Earth is the only known planet to have consistent, stable bodies of liquid water and the temperature allows it to stay liquid for long periods of time. In 2015, NASA confirmed liquid water flows irregularly on present-day Mars. “People have a conception that a cold early Mars climate is bad for life, but what we show is that there's actually more chemical energy for life underground in a cold climate," study lead author Jesse Tarnas, a graduate student at Brown University in Rhode Island, said. The researchers analyzed measurements of the Martian crust’s density, (consists mostly of volcanic basalt rock beneath the dust that covers the surface of Mars, similar to talcum powder), as well as the results of geothermal and climate models, to determine how much water was likely available to be split by this native radiation when the planet was young. The result was that the Red Planet harbored a “habitable zone” 4 billion years ago when liquid water was flowing across the Martian surface. Temperature on planet Mars tend to be more cold but this doesn’t necessarily make it harder for life to bloom on the surface, overlying ice would actually make the subsurface zone more habitable, by preventing newly split hydrogen from escaping into the atmosphere, study team members said.
However, space exploration isn’t for everyone. Some people believe it is a dangerous act and should not be funded because of the extreme cost. Space travel is a serious thing that takes a lot of courage and bravery for astronauts to go through with. A question people have asked is: Is it ethical to explore when there is so much that needs to be done on Earth? I see there point but do not completely agree because people can make time for both matters. If anything, more people are focused on real life problems that are current, like red tide and climate change. I think the space exploration vision is a slow but thorough process that includes a lot of patience to continue forward successfully.