First Footings in the Final Frontier
Troy M. Morris, Director of Operations
4 minute read
I’ve promised some dear friends that I will not start a speech, presentation, or article with a specific tagline, and for a few reasons. Foremost, of my many hobbies and nerdy interests, this certain franchise has never become one of my favorites, through no fault of its own. Additionally, the abuse of the phrase would both cheapen the franchise and the impact of any new message relating to space or frontiers. So by moving past a phrase that entertains the imagination of millions, we must also move past the imagery of faraway federal programs putting society towards that promised progress.
Just as the success over frozen frontiers, unexplored jungles, endless seas, and even the famous imagery of the American West relied on hard people doing hard work, many forget the steps and support that made those areas of old exploration into the tourist destinations of today. From outposts and supply lines to small-town squares and starting-out shops, the areas under human expansion have been forged and founded in deliberate acts and minor decisions echoing over eons. Each piece of the puzzle is seemingly insignificant and the tasks to finalization insurmountable, yet through a shared societal dream, or singular ideals, humankind pushed forth into all areas listed at the beginning of this paragraph.
Humans are believed to have first lived in the Arctic 45,000 years ago, yet only reached the farthest poles of our own planet 100 years ago. Similar gaps exist for the jungles of South America (first settled 15,000 years ago, full length navigation of the Amazon 500 years ago), the oceans of our world (earliest crossings 50,000 years ago, reaching the deepest point 60 years ago), and again the famous American West (Lewis & Clarke exploring indigenous territory 200 years ago, with the frontier admitted as states just over 100 years ago). In all these experiences and explorations, the technology and tenacity of those in the frontiers held equal footing for the advancement of people. Those two essential pieces must continue as humanity sets its collective sights among the stars.
Currently we see such pushes from modern titans like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Sir Richard Branson, and it is fitting to have an individual honored by royalty when mentioning exploration, as the famous explorers of history often received similar recognition. Whether it’s a radical reinvention of the established transportation, establishing industry in a new area, or showing the world to the wide-eyed, these people and their followers, companies, and many more, are shifting our discovery of space into a domestic occupation offworld. This shift is already taking place, with people changing from settling amongst vast snow-covered forests and numerous sand-wrapped freshwater lakes into the space overhead, and in the newest examples, taking the home of the American automobile into the aerospace industry.
As teased in the opening paragraph, this shift is happening at smaller levels than the first forays, again as seen in earlier frontiers. While nations may have sponsored the first European crossings of the Atlantic, it was the smaller pieces of companies, colonists, and craftspeople that created the communities across the sea. The same is being seen for space with the former Soviet Union and United States running their race and an endless engine of enterprise following. This has been seen with the selection of sites for both vertical and horizontal launch in Michigan, led not by the national government (which is still pending their final selection for the headquarters of the standalone Space Force) but by state government, private enterprise, and organizations fostering such development.
These steps of establishing regular ports are what shift the untamed elements into a budding frontier. As the early farmers arrived in new lands, their ability to trade with the developed communities that they came from provided a market for new world products. As such, repetitive launches from space ports will allow earthbound entrepreneurs to send their goods and services to the stars, as well as foster the eventual return of space-constructed specialties. Time will tell what those items will be, and where the largest sites of trade will sit, but history shows that both will occur as nature relents in the face of cutting-edge, creative technology, and equally talented and tenacious explorers.
These settlers of space will not just be physically present in habitats, but involved remotely as inventors, scientists, developers, researchers, and as often seen, sponsors of such new exploration. The ranks of these groups grow with continued interest and understanding of space and with the successful space generation possibly hard at work in labs or classrooms, or even yet to be born. When the footsteps of these founders will follow those of Armstrong from 50 years ago is the guess of many. They will be made possible by the new age of Gagarins going into the galaxy, aboard the inventions of their own era’s Goddard or von Braun, yet still dreaming in the similar ways that humanity has since Verne or Wells. To get there will take many more steps, which are expected to come from a variety of places, not just the established programs of superpowers. The steps will be seen as similarly small, but like in the referenced Michigan Launch Initiative, each foot forward increases humanity's ability to explore outward from our origin. These explorers who make those new footprints may not reference Wells or Verne and other writers of significant science fiction novels, but may instead turn to the sci-fi shows and movies of their own time. All aspire to the same dream, to boldly go where no one has gone before.
Recommended column to read next: The Mythology of the Milky Way