The moment when, 50 years ago, Neil Armstrong planted his foot on the surface of the Moon inspired awe, pride and wonder around the world. This newspaper argued that “man, from this day on, can go wheresoever in the universe his mind wills and his ingenuity contrives…to the planets, sooner rather than later, man is now certain to go.” But no. The Moon landing was an aberration, a goal achieved not as an end in itself but as a means of signalling America’s extraordinary capabilities. That point, once made, required no remaking. Only 571 people have been into orbit; and since 1972 no one has ventured much farther into space than Des Moines is from Chicago.
The next 50 years will look very different. Falling costs, new technologies, Chinese and Indian ambitions, and a new generation of entrepreneurs promise a bold era of space development. It will almost certainly involve tourism for the rich and better communications networks for all; in the long run it might involve mineral exploitation and even mass transportation. Space will become ever more like an extension of Earth—an arena for firms and private individuals, not just governments. But for this promise to be fulfilled the world needs to create a system of laws to govern the heavens—both in peacetime and, should it come to that, in war.
The development of space thus far has been focused on facilitating activity down below—mainly satellite communications for broadcasting and navigation. Now two things are changing. First, geopolitics is stoking a new push to send humans beyond the shallows of low-Earth orbit. China plans to land people on the Moon by 2035. President Donald Trump’s administration wants Americans to be back there by 2024. Falling costs make this showing off more affordable than before. Apollo cost hundreds of billions of dollars (in today’s money). Now tens of billions are the ticket price.
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It is a mistake to promote space as a romanticised Wild West, an anarchic frontier where humanity can throw off its fetters and rediscover its destiny. For space to fulfil its promise governance is required. At a time when the world cannot agree on rules for the terrestrial trade of steel bars and soybeans that may seem like a big ask. But without it the potential of all that lies beyond Earth will at best wait another 50 years to be fulfilled. At worst space could add to Earth’s problems. | Winning entries could not be determined in this language pair.There was 1 entry submitted in this pair during the submission phase. Not enough entries were submitted for this pair to advance to the finals round, and it was therefore not possible to determine a winner.
Competition in this pair is now closed. |
Dak il-mument, ħamsin sena ilu, meta Neil Armstrong poġġa siequ fuq wiċċ il-qamar nissel għaġeb u sens ta' kburija mad-dinja kollha. Din il-gazzetta irraġunat li "minn issa 'l quddiem, il-bniedem jista' jmur kull fejn jgħidlu moħħu u kull fejn jippjana fl-univers....żgur li, illum qabel għada, jasal sa fuq il-pjaneti". imma le. l-inżul fuq il-qamar kien atipiku, għan milħuq mhux bħala mira fiha nfisha, iżda bħala mezz li bih l-Amerika tat sinjal tal-kapaċitajiet straordinarji li kellha. Dak l-argument, ladarba sar, ma kellux bżonn jiġi ripetut. 571 ruħ biss telgħu fl-orbita; u mill-1972 'l hawn hadd m'azzarda jitbiegħed fl-ispazju aktar mid-distanza bejn Des Moines u Chicago. Il-ħamsin sena li ġejjin se jkunu differenti ħafna. It-tnaqqis fl-ispejjeż, l-ambizzjonijiet taċ-Ċiniżi u l-Indjani, u ġenerazzjoni ġdida ta' intraprendituri jawguraw tajjeb għal epoka kuraġġuża ta' żvilupp spazjali. Żgur li se tinvolvi turiżmu ghall-għonja u sistemi ta' kommunikazzjoni aqwa għal kullħadd; fit-tul tista' tinvolvi l-estrazzjoni tal-minerali u anke t-trasport tal-massa. L-ispazju se jsir aktar u aktar estensjoni tad-dinja - miftuh mhux biss għall-gvernijiet iżda għaall kumpaniji u individwi privati. Imma biex dan iseħħ hemm bżonn li d-dinja tfassal sistema legali li tkopri s-smewwiet - kemm waqt il-paċi u, jekk naslu s'hemm, anke fil-gwerra. S'issa, l-iżvilupp tal-ispazju kien iffukat fuq it-titjib tal-attivitajiet hawn isfel - l-aktar il-kommunikazzjoni bis-satelliti għax-xandir u n-navigazzjoni. Issa l-affarijiet qed jinbidlu. L-ewwel nett, il-ġeopolitika qed tħeġġeġ sforz ġdid biex il-bniedem jasal lil hinn mill-orbiti baxxi madwar id-dinja. Iċ-Ċina qed tippjana li tniżżel in-nies fuq il-qamar sas-sena 2035. Il-gvern ta' Donald Trump irid li l-Amerikani jerġgħu lura hemmhekk sal-2024. Spejjeż imnaqqsa ifissru li dan il-ftaħir jiswa inqas minn qabel Apollo sewa mijiet ta' biljuni ta' dollari (fi flus tal-lum). Issa l-biljett iqum għexieren ta' biljuni. (.......) Huwa żball li l-ispazju jiġi promoss bħala "Wild West" romantiku fejn l-umanità tista' teħles mill-ktajjen u terġa tiskopri id-destin tagħha. Biex il-wegħdiet tal-ispazju jitwettqu hemm bżonn il-governanza. Fi żmien meta m'hemmx qbil fuq in-negozju dinji tal-azzar jew taż-żerriegħa tas-sojja, din tista titqies bħala xi ħaġa diffiċli. Imma mingħajrha l-aħjar li jista' jiġri hu li l-potenzjal kollu ta' dak li jinstab lil hinn mid-dinja jkollu jistenna ħamsin sena oħra biex jintlaħaq. L-għar huwa li l-ispazju jista' jżid mal-problema tad-dinja. | Entry #27737 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Not specifiednone
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