"The surface of the Earth is the shore of the cosmic ocean. Recently, we've waded a little way out, maybe ankle-deep, and the water seems inviting. Some part of our being knows this is where we came from.We long to return, and we can, because the cosmos is also within us. We're made of star stuff. We are a way for the cosmos to know itself."

Carl Sagan

The End of the Space Age?

A sobering and provocative article was released in The Economist on June 30th: The End of the Space Age. In this piece it was argued quite pessimistically that 'it is likely the Space Age is over' where the furthest humans will reach into space will be the technosphere- the swarm of satellites that envelop the Earth. With the final shuttle launch approaching it appears this will be the case. Of course there will be robotic forays to planets within the solar system but

'Every planet has now been visited, and every planet with a solid surface bar Mercury has been landed on. Asteroids, moons and comets have all been added to the stamp album. Unless life turns up on Mars, or somewhere even more unexpected, public interest in the whole thing is likely to wane. And it is the public that pays for it all.'

Is it true that only human space exploration gains public support? And what is the point in human space travel anyway?

Unlike others if I was asked to justify human space travel I wouldn't quickly turn to scientific spin-offs (something Prof. Dawkins claims is the 'non-stick frying pan approach') or praise engineering ingenuity. I think human spaceflight represents something more implacable, intangible and wondrous. Nobody could have predicted the impact of Apollo 8's lunar orbit. The iconic 'Earth Rise' image, photographed on Christmas Eve, has been seen by some to have spawned the environmental movement. Viewing the Earth as a blue jewel in the void of space the planet seemed vulnerable, its silent poetry presenting human follies as pointless, its beauty worth saving.

It's true that space has gradually lost support since the last Apollo flight of 1972. Even during the Apollo missions interest waned. Ask anyone who the first men to walk on the moon were and you would, more than likely, get the right answer. But who would know that Eugene Cernan was the last to walk on the moon? Bizarrely, after the giant leap of 1969 continuing to walk on the moon seemed old news. The inbuilt, impatient explorer in everyone wanted to see what was over the next hill.

With the first Shuttle flight of 1981 came a reusable taxi into Earth orbit. In truth amongst its major achievements in assisting the assemblage of the ISS, taking satellites into orbit, taking the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) into orbit and carrying out a Hubble reservicing mission, none had the grandeur or drama of walking on a new world. But even though a lot of the shuttle missions went largely unnoticed by the general populus it kept the wonder alive from the Apollo era, whether directly or indirectly: humans floating above the great blue Earth in ambitious space walks and the myriad images captured by the HST, opening up the cosmos like never before. Yes, public interest dimmed with the Space Shuttle but at least the candle of exploration was still burning.

So it is with sadness that I will watch the final Shuttle flight on 8th July. Difficult economic times may have led to the Obama administration cancelling the shuttle program and yes the batton has passed to ESA and Russia's space transportation. Then private companies will eventually take over in the intervening time NASA decides what to do with itself. But for me the candle of wonder and exploration will burn with a dimmer light. All we can hope for is that the flame will burn bright in the future.