Preparing the first space colonizers for life off of planet Earth

With private space engineers making huge breakthroughs seemingly every day, it’s only a matter of time until the average person can explore space. But when that day arrives, will the average person be ready?

Rick Tumlinson is, and he wants the rest of us to be, too.

That’s why the two-decade veteran of the private space industry hosts a special gathering every year for people who are thinking about how to live off Earth.

At the New Worlds Institute, would-be space explorers swap ideas and hone their plans for growing crops on the moon and settling Mars. But the goal of the conference transcends preparation. Proponents of gatherings like New Worlds claim they are necessary to share the space exploration gospel. As Daniel Faber, one of Tumlinson’s colleagues puts it, space explorers will need the same wide social acceptance to work in space that they need to work on Earth.  

“This is the future you can grasp. These are the things that space exploration will improve. Now, do you mind if we go and take some resources from a few of the millions of asteroids that are out there?” -Daniel Faber

The goal of New Worlds is to make a case to all humans that space exploration is worth it. Or as Faber likes to say when he meets with non-space nerds: “This is the future you can grasp. These are the things that space exploration will improve. Now, do you mind if we go and take some resources from a few of the millions of asteroids that are out there?”

Related
How the world’s most sensitive yardstick reveals secrets of the universe
When two massive objects – like black holes or neutron stars – merge, they warp space and time. Here’s the tool that measures the resulting waves.
How to terraform Mars, without nukes, on a budget
Terraforming Mars has been a dream for decades; here’s how we might get it started today.
Understanding just how big solar flares can get
Recasting the iconic Carrington Event as just one of many superstorms in Earth’s past, scientists reveal the potential for even more massive eruptions.
Here’s how growing plants on the Moon could benefit Earth
Making plants grow on the Moon could be instrumental in helping gardens to grow greener on Earth in the face of climate change.
For the first time, astronomers have detected a radio signal from the massive explosion of a dying white dwarf
Patience and persistence pays off in ways researchers never expected, allowing them to hear the dying whispers of a distant star.
Up Next
Subscribe to Freethink for more great stories