We are on the precipice of a new era of humanity. We’ve ventured a short way into space, and (with the International Space Station) we have a permanent outpost an arms length from the beach.
Incredible economic opportunities lie waist deep in the water, like asteroid and lunar mining, which the daring will exploit and profit from.
Gradually humanity’s home in the universe will expand from our Earth to our planetary neighbours until we are comfortable in the water.
After many generations we may undertake the most ambitious journey in the history of our species; and cross the first of many vast oceans of space from our continent to the next; Alpha Centauri.
Out in the vastness there are trillions of worlds, with ground as real as what’s currently under your feet. They will have natural wonders, like geysers so large they reach space, and mountains so enormous that Mt. Everest would make just the first stair. There are gas giants with rings as large as our solar system, planets which rain diamonds, and moons with vast oceans hidden under a thick layer of ice.
We will find life and perhaps it will look familiar, or perhaps it will be stranger than what we ever could have believed. Even the smallest discovery will revolutionise all of biology.
We may find the ruins of long dead civilisations, which will inspire new fields of archaeology and linguistics, and will become the sites of great scientific outposts.
They may provide some clue as to what our fate could be and how to avoid it, as there is still so much to discover. We’ve only explored our galaxy, and there are least two trillion more to go.
