Very Interesting – July-August 2019

READY TO

LEAVE?

plunder the Earth’s finite

resources, our planet is looking

increasingly imperilled. A 2012

World Wildlife Fund report

estimated that by 2030 we’ll

need the equivalent of two

planets in order to sustain our

lifestyles. And it’s pretty much

a certainty that we’ll have to

move at some point, with the

sun forecast to increase in

brightness and boil away our

oceans in around a billion

years’ time.

Scientists are beginning to

look towards the stars, figuring

out how we might one day set

up base elsewhere.

P

lanet Earth has

been home to

humans for

hundreds of

thousands of years,

and it’s served us well. But

with the global population

ever growing, and humans

continuing to pollute and

In October 1968, the Apollo 7 mission sent

US astronauts into space and kickstarted

the race to reach the moon. Now, just over

50 years on, we look at some of the

discoveries and technology that will 

help us set up a permanent new home

in space

7 TEXT: KELLY OAKES AND COLIN STUART

Space