![]() ![]() The names of the honored dead may even adorn communities of humans on other worlds that today await the coming of explorers, entrepreneurs, dreamers and pioneers. When human civilization has spread out to the moon, Mars and across the solar system, it will be partly as a result of people who will give their lives to make it happen. And we will build monuments to remind future generations how they lived and how they died doing what they loved. We will hold funerals to mark their passing and celebrate their lives. We will comfort their bereaved family and friends. When people die on the moon, we will mourn them. ![]() Indeed, it can be argued that the solution to problems such as poverty, environmental degradation - and all the rest that besets the Earth - resides in earning wealth and power beyond our home planet. Or, worse, it will mean ceding the benefits of space exploration to China.Īs for the idea that we should turn back from exploring and deal with Earthly problems, the answer should be that civilization is rich enough and mighty enough to do both. Drawing back from the frontier of space and cowering on this tiny planet, could mean the eventual death of human civilization. No human endeavor, from the time the first hunter gatherers ventured in search of new lands, has been undertaken without lives being lost. The return to the moon will have enormous benefits in the realms of science, commerce and soft political power. The short answers are “yes” and “so what?” Is the exploration of the moon, Mars and beyond worth the cost in human lives? Don’t we have problems here on Earth that need out attention? Somebody had better have an answer to both questions. However, somebody, an elected official, a media influencer, somebody will surely ask the inevitable questions. The causes, when found, will be corrected, and humankind’s exploration of the moon will continue. No doubt it will spark the formation of a special commission to delve into the root causes of the catastrophe. The media will weigh in with analysts and reaction. Politicians will make solemn pronouncements. People will likely greet the news with the same kind of shock and sorrow as they did previous space disasters that killed astronauts. Imagine, some time in the 2030s or 2040s, being confronted by the news that an moon mission has crashed on the lunar surface with the complete loss of the crew. In so doing, we have to accept the likelihood that some of those explorers will not return to Earth alive. America is leading a coalition of nations and private companies to return astronauts to the surface of the moon as early as 2025. The Artemis program has begun in earnest with the launch of the Artemis 1 mission on Wednesday. One can encourage safety culture as much as possible, but people, even engineers and managers, are fallible - so the path to a space-based human civilization will inevitably be paved with human lives. The larger lesson that Challenger taught us, as the 1962 Apollo fire did before and the Columbia disaster since, is that people will die pushing back the high frontier of space. Nasa is currently considering what additional actions it may take regarding the artifact that will properly honour the legacy of Challenger's fallen astronauts and the families who loved them.The Challenger Commission, which included astronauts like Neil Armstrong and Sally Ride, scientists such as Richard Feynman, and the incomparable Air Force pilot General Charles Yeager, uncovered the technical and management causes of the disaster. "Challenger and her crew live on in the hearts and memories of both Nasa and the nation," said Kennedy Space Center director Janet Petro. The agency also created the Apollo Challenger Columbia Lessons Learned Programme to share these lessons within the agency and with other government, public, commercial, and international audiences. Nasa created an office of safety and mission assurance, developed new risk assessment procedures, and established an environment in which everyone can raise safety concerns. The loss of Challenger, and later Columbia with its seven astronauts (including Indian-origin Kalpana Chawla) - which broke up on re-entry in February 2003 over the western US - greatly influenced Nasa's culture regarding safety. An agency investigation later showed unexpectedly cold temperatures affected the integrity of O-ring seals in the solid rocket booster segment joints. A major malfunction 73 seconds after liftoff resulted in the loss of Challenger and the seven astronauts aboard. ![]()
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