Physicist Brian Cox on how space travel can save the human race – and why there should be a Mars mission
- Professor believes commercial space flight by entrepreneurs like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson can help colonise other planets in the future
- He believes a joint mission to Mars would be a ‘unifying force’
It’s time to breathe a collective sigh of relief. Professor Brian Cox finally feels optimistic about the survival of the human race – well, he thinks he can be, at least – thanks to advances in private space flight.
The lauded British scientist has previously said he was not at a point where he could be assured about mankind’s survival, it being highly dependant on the next one to two decades, but, speaking recently in Hong Kong, he says: “The big change for me has been commercial space flight.”
His new-found optimism comes after Elon Musk’s SpaceX capsule became the first commercial spacecraft to dock with the International Space Station (ISS) and then make a successful return to earth, this month. Musk believes this public-private partnership with Nasa marks the first major step towards becoming a “spacefaring civilisation”.
While this may be reason enough for some to celebrate, more needs to be done to secure our future on this planet and our possible future as a multiplanetary species. For example, SpaceX’s successful unmanned test mission is just the first of many steps that must be taken before space travel is opened up to paying customers.
“Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson are the main players in commercial space flight at the moment,” says the particle physicist. While the 51-year-old admits that these “dynamic entrepreneurs” are putting their money into rocket companies partly for commercial reasons, he says they also see the bigger picture – including the future colonisation of other planets.
“If you think about the trajectory of aviation in general, it ultimately has to be private sector,” he says. Going into “orbit is about gaining access to essentially free [and untapped metal] resources” in the asteroid belt that we require as a growing civilisation. “[Also] the more people you get up there looking at the earth, the more people that will value the planet.”
“These are not whimsical ideas, it is clear that we have to find a way of expanding our civilisation and increasing living standards for everyone,” Cox said ahead of his June 5 Universal World Tour 2019 show in Hong Kong. Cox says the only way we can become “immortal” as a species is to populate other planets, and a public-private partnership and global collaboration is the key.
“The moment you see the earth from space you realise that the only way we are going to become a truly spacefaring civilisation – which means a civilisation that becomes effectively immortal – is if you can begin to move off our home planet. If you can do that, then the possibilities are infinite,” he says.
If money was no object, he says he would “love to see an international mission to Mars”. He believes if superpowers could put aside rivalries, and financially and technologically join forces, a mission to Mars would be a “unifying force”, and could be put into action now.
“I’d like to see people on Mars. It is not just a romantic notion … It is important for humanity to have frontiers – physical and intellectual frontiers,” says the professor of particle physics at the University of Manchester.
“We have the technology [to make it to Mars]. To make it economically sensible you need reusable rockets, and really SpaceX is ahead there. That tech exists in the private sector. The expertise for long-duration space flight exists in the US, Russia and China.
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“I don’t’ think there will be a space race to Mars because it is too expensive … but the sensible way to do it is together.”
The first quarter of 2019 has been an exciting time in space exploration, especially for the East, with China’s historic landing of the Chang’e 4 rover on the “dark side of the moon” in January. On Tuesday, China also announced the “imminent launch” of a mission to start building its new orbital space station, set for completion by 2022 – just a few years before the ISS is expected to run out of government funding.
China gives the impression [that it can] do anything the country wants, because it has the resources, it has the intellectual power to do it
Chinese astronauts are not allowed on the ISS, because of a ban put in place by the US Congress in 2011 due to national security concerns.
China has proved its space programme is to be reckoned with, having long lagged behind the US and Russia as a result of Mao’s Cultural Revolution.
It is making its mark on space at an interesting time, as other nations scale back their space or, as seen with the US, look to public-private partnerships to get astronauts into space.
“China has the ambition, investment and technological know how [of a superpower]. China gives the impression [that it can] do anything the country wants, because it has the resources, it has the intellectual power to do it,” Cox says.
January’s landing on the far side of the moon captured the imagination of the general public, and that power cannot be underestimated, he says. “We sometimes undervalue inspiration; especially with children in China, it is a huge motivation for people to go into science and engineering.”
The TV presenter and former musician is bringing his live show to Asia for the first time in June, enabling audiences in Hong Kong and Singapore to explore the edges of current understanding about the origin and evolution of the solar system and the universe.
Professor Brian Cox Universal World Tour, June 5, 7.30pm, Star Hall, Kitec, 1 Trademart Drive, Kowloon Bay, HK$485-HK$1,125 (early bird adult), HK$550-HK$1,250 (standard adult), HK$350 (students), HK Ticketing
