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Feb 2, 2003 The space shuttle Columbus fell a part in the skies over Texas. Most of it burned up and some parts fell on the ground. I hope so much that the astronauts did not suffer. One of them was an Israeli, the first Israeli in space. My heart goes out to the family and friends of the victims. Luckily the USA will continue their space program. Even though the USA is one of the leading countries in space exploration, I do not see space exploration as an American thing. Space exploration is a human thing, one of the strongest signs of what humanity is capable of. Many people may believe that space exploration is not useful and costs too much money and lives. Let us see what the results are of space exploration: 1) Communications Satellites Communications satellites have improved communications around the world. National and international communications are better and cheaper because of space. 2) Weather Satellites Weather satellites improved the weather forecast immensely. Lives are being saved every day because of the improved weather predictions. 3) Medicine Lots of medical studies have been conducted in space and improved our medical knowledge a lot. These are just 3 of the many things that we have now a days because of space exploration. And looking into the future I believe we will arrive in a time that star trek is no longer science fiction, even though I don’t believe we will encounter many aliens. More likely we will colonize planets that are reasonably able to support life. Further in the future those planets will become independent and some will alienate from mother earth, and some will not. What the oceans were in the past, space will be in the future. Exploration is difficult, and can be painful at times, but it is a natural continuation of what humanity has been doing since we walked naked in the plains. Good and bad are part of life. Nothing can prevent it and everything exist because of it. ------------ Peter Faber is Dutch and has recently moved to Brazil. Visit Peter's website. Email Peter: getting_there@uol.com.br Comment on this column in the forum. ------------ |
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