Out of This World and Into the Next: Notes from a Physicist on Space Exploration
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Adriana Marais
Profile Books
“In the long run, we will have to leave Earth to survive. This is not news to humans. Humans are explorers and our migration is often a solution to disruption and climate: to go to places where we could survive and access resources,” theoretical physicist Dr Adriana Marais says of the universal truth published in her exploration of the origins of life on Earth and the future of human civilisation beyond the planet we call home.
“Homo sapiens have been roaming around Earth for about 300,000 years, and the climate turmoil we’ve survived far outweighs anything we see today in terms of climate shifts,” said the Qonce-born technologist, advocate for off-world exploration and chief scientist for the continent’s first lunar mission, Africa2Moon.
The space industry gives us opportunities to think beyond our home only being the Earth, said Marais, with mortal terrestrials having the potential to establish research bases on the moon and, to paraphrase David Bowie, potentially live on Mars.
“I love that LP,” Marais grinned, adding: “As far as we know, there’s no life on Mars — but I believe we’ll find evidence of life, or perhaps existing microbial life, under the surface.”
If it’s the Red Planet you envision inhabiting, you’ll be leading a subterranean life.
“The radiation on the surface of Mars is extreme because it has a thin atmosphere. You wouldn’t be able to live there unless you were living in a well-shielded habitat, probably underground.
“ I can more easily imagine myself living on Mars than I can living in a confined space such as a space station. Being on the moon seems bizarre, but we’ve been there before,” said the physicist, who pronounced imagination, curiosity and creativity as vital attributes in scientific thinking.
For Saffas seeking a terrestrial version of Mars, head northwest. There’s a place on Mars called the Namib Dune because of the similarities the Martian surface shares with Namibia. If you’re aiming for lunar living, voyage to the southernmost continent on Earth. The closest approximation to living on the Moon is Antarctica, said Marais.
Vetoing the term “space colonisation” and favouring “expansion”, “settlement” or “adventure” as space exploration descriptors, Marais said: “If space exploration will turn into the profit-driven, resource-extractive process colonisation is, I think we’ve missed an opportunity to advance as humans.
“I’m not saying Mars will be a utopia. It’ll create an opportunity to rethink the fundamental principles defining our society. Maybe we’re in desperate need of reimagining what kind of culture we could aspire towards as humans.”
While we’re not obligated to abandon terrestrial inhabitation (yet), Marais reminded us again of the significance of life on Earth: “Life is a precious and little understood phenomena, and it is mysterious and beautiful, and not something our technology is even close to being able to reproduce. Respect it.”
Cue a universal, and infinite, “watch this space”.
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