SpaceX called the Starship’s second test flight on Nov. 18 a “success,” and Elon Musk predicted that the interplanetary rocket would bring about a “fork in the road of human destiny.” The Starship has the potential to make all life “multiplanetary,” Musk wrote on X.
Some, especially in the media, have questioned whether SpaceX can achieve its interplanetary aspirations. The naysayers focus on the technical troubles, but Musk considers them surmountable.
All 33 engines on the Starship fired. The main Starship stage detached from the booster and continued to fly for several minutes. Then its system activated a self-destruct mechanism above the Gulf of Mexico, despite a planned trip around the globe. SpaceX and the Federal Aviation Administration will investigate what triggered Starship’s Automated Flight Termination System.
All but a small few have no idea whether we can colonize Mars. The technological subjects overawe most minds. But all must consider whether we should colonize Mars and eventually other planets in distant solar systems.
We, indeed, face a fork in the road of human destiny, and we should consciously plot our course.
Colonization for Consciousness’s Sake
Musk has given a compelling philosophical defense of multiplanetary colonization. In an interview with Google co-founder Larry Page, Musk said that “human consciousness is a precious flicker of light in the universe, and we should not let it be extinguished.”
If current models of our solar system hold, then humans only have a few billion years left to prepare for the sun’s death. After those short years pass, the sun will no longer sustain life on
