- While growing up as kids, we all have been fed fantasies of the solar system, the moon, the galaxy, and other planets spread around infinite space. The fascination, intrigue, and unanswered questions surrounding the space must have made every kid go wide-eyed simply listening, reading, or hearing from someone in the position of authority, like a teacher. To supplement our curiosity, the umpteen number of science-fiction movies produced on interstellar explorations, space and time travel, and other similar stuff surrounding the same only added to further our intrigue. Yes, modern-day humankind has taken giant steps in exploring the hitherto unexplained space domain what with space science technology establishing creditable credentials of late.
PC: Britannica Kids
- The present-day governments are allocating huge funds to explore space territory keeping in mind the future of humanity, including exploring the possibility of establishing settlements in the far away planets, and the moon of course. Our activity can already turn the moon cold though. Make no mistake, thoughts of colonizing the moon will be truly terrible, to say the least. Mind you, how much our surroundings were transformed by Covid lockdowns. Even if we didn’t, there are drone videos taken during March-April 2020 to remind us what happened to Indian cities back then. Remember, how streets quieted, skies turned pretty shades of blue, the landmarks felt unrecognizable without the usual pandemonium prevalent perennially?
- As reported, it turns out the impact went much, much further. Scientists from the Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad have found evidence that the global lockdowns even affected the faraway moon, pushing its temperature down. There is something romantic about this. For its entire history, humanity has shared the experience of looking up to our moon, some finding in a deity, some a must, others a comforting companion, and still others a compass. Isn’t it nice to know that the feelings aren’t all one-sided? But there’s also a grimmer side to human activity having heavy repercussions across space. On the earth, it has already changed the climate dangerously, driven species to extinction, and turned water bodies into poison.
PC : Vajiram & Ravi
- Now that humanity has shifted lunar colonies from the once realm of science fiction into far-future reality, whether it will send the moon the way of Earth has also become a real concern. A few years ago, Bezos’s space company Blue Origin circulated a white paper to NASA leadership and others, making the case for incentives to the private sector to demonstrate a commercial lunar cargo delivery service. This is just indicative of how once sci-fi scenes are now legit investment opportunities. Notably, all the irreparable wreckage of colonisations here on the Earth must caution us against subjecting our moon to the same. We will always be in a relationship, but let it not be toxic. For humanity has the proclivity to render anything and everything toxic over a period.
