Watching the Artemis II Launch last evening, which will take four astronauts to the moon for the first time since 1972, I surely admired the courage of those human explorers and the skills of the engineers who designed and constructed their modern space ship.
On the other hand, in this technological age, one wonders why the lives of humans must be placed at risk, however committed they might be to participate. Can we not learn as much by launching unmanned and less expensive probes? Can we not benefit as much from using high-tech equipment to unlock the mysteries of space and to utilize that knowledge to improve the lives of humans on Earth?
Finally, does our commitment to space exploration siphon funds from programs that might better serve humanity? Indeed, the degradation of our home planet's natural ecosystems serves to justify the potential need to escape to the Moon, to Mars and beyond. At this point in history, it seems far more likely that we humans will become extinct on Earth before we colonize space.
