With space tourism on the brink of becoming a reality, Dr. Mayank Vahia writes on what science can achieve once we know more about our ever-expanding universe.
Our ignorance of the universe exceeds our knowledge of it. Even after its birth, how did matter in the universe behave and how and why did stars and galaxies form are some things which we are still scratching our heads about. We know that what we see is not enough to explain how stars formed and there is about ten times as much unseen matter in the universe as there is matter that we can see. So why, what and where is this matter? Then there is a new problem. In recent years, we have realised that some completely unknown force seems to be tearing the universe apart for the past couple of billion years and we have no idea about the nature of this force.
Talking of ignorance, we also have very little idea about what is matter and why does it have the properties it does. “How small is small?” is a big question. We just about know that whatever the nature of matter is, it is floating in a field, like a person in a swimming pool and the resistance given by this Higgs pool makes us heavy. But honestly, why does that inertia of Higgs field also recognised by gravity? And since the universe was born in a big bang, these questions are curiously inter-related.
Then there is a question whether we are alone in the universe and whether other life forms exist in the universe around us. We know of thousands of planets in our neighbourhood and some seem to have the correct environment for life to flourish. Does that mean life exists there? Only time and hard work will tell. For now the immediate future is still shrouded in some mystery that unveils itself from time to time.
Space is the last great frontier for the human race. It holds fascination for us both as a source of wonder and lures us with goodies. It challenges our technological capabilities as hardly any other endeavour does. The sole exception would probably be deep sea investigations. In space exploration today, we have sent missions to Pluto and beyond the solar system, landed not just on planets but also on passing comets as well as sent satellites or fly-by missions to every interesting object in the solar system. We have achieved a lot. For a developing economy, India’s achievements in the field have also been outstanding.
So what are our expectations and our areas of curiosity in space?
- For more commercial minded approach, there is this idea of mining the moon. Thanks to Chandrayaan and other missions, we now have a pretty good idea about distribution of rare metals on the moon and also an understanding of the nature of the environment in which any excavation of the moon will take place. We have the technology but the mining is still not cost effective. As we over exploit resources on earth and avoid explorations of some areas due to environmental concerns, the moon will certainly become more inviting.
- The prospect of a holiday in space may also be closer than we dare to imagine. With private industries with profit motive stepping in, space holidays and hyper space travel are both possible and achievable. Already, one can have breakfast in Mumbai and again in Dubai thanks to air travel. With rocket-based travel, we can imagine breakfast in Mumbai and another one in New York on the same morning. We may even be able to catch a nap in New York before going for breakfast!
- Mars lures us because it is potentially habitable, and everyone wants to have a new and exotic address. We still need to find a reliable water source on Mars and also see if any local life forms exist, but that is a matter of time and perseverance. We already have working transport and some idea about where water may be found as well as possible hazards of living on Mars. Given enough funding, it is not very difficult to work out liveable architecture for Mars.
But for astronomers, space holds so many questions that it is going to take a lot of good space and ground based telescopes of all kinds to fathom its working, its past and its future in any significant way. We just about know that the Universe was born in a big bang some 13.7 billion years ago and has been expanding since. But we have no idea about the bang itself and events that followed it. We only know that what happened defies our imagination and our (limited) scientific understanding of the workings of nature.
Clearly, the future of space exploration is an exciting one and it will not only answer some questions, but also raise many more. Stay tuned for future developments.
Dr. Mayank Vahia is a scientist at TATA Institute of Fundamental Research in the department of Astronomy and Astrophysics
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