ANOTHER MILLENNIUM
Dream
the impossible dream, because there's little doubt what seems impossible
right now will have already happened by the time you celebrate the
year 3,000.
Space
exploration, men on Mars, super intelligent computers, and the ultimate
science fiction fantasy - time travel, will be a fantasy no longer. We've
already sampled space exploration with the Apollo and Shuttle missions,
and while men haven't yet made it to Mars it's only a matter of time and a
thousand years in the future is a long time to do it in. Super intelligent
computers are already with us - the PC that's sitting on your desk is
already vastly superior to the equipment that sent man to the moon. Back
in the seventies the computing power needed for such an incredible feat
was huge and cost multi millions to manufacture and maintain. In fact the
first 'microcomputer' appeared in 1977, five years after the lunar landing
and within a decade the cost of microchips and the invention of disc
drives as opposed to tape cassettes to store software has revolutionised
the industry.
This enormous leap has taken place only in the last 30
years and it's impossible to ignore the impact that computers are going to
have on everyone's life. Imagine telling people 200 years ago that the
ships they sailed in wouldn't need wind in their sails any longer, and
that riding a horse to get to their destination would become recreation
not a necessity, or that instead of a naked flame to light a room they'd
be able to flick a switch. They'd have laughed no doubt, just before
tieing you to the stake and using that naked flame to ignite the fire just
because you dreamed the impossible dream.
Nothing is beyond our reach
if we just reach far enough, and space travel is the natural progression
for mankind. We've already had men walk on the moon and it's only a matter
of time before the same events happen on Mars. Only this time instead of
planting a flag or two and waving to the cameras, which was in itself a
tremendous achievement, we have greater plans in store for the big red
planet. Why Mars in particular? - well we already have thousands of
photographs and information taken from the Mariner and Viking missions,
and many experts agree it would serve as an ideal 'second home' for
humans. It even has seasons like we have on earth and sure it's bitterly
cold there, with it's summer being minus 60c, that's about as cold as our
own antarctic winters - and we have colonies there don't we? Evidence
suggests water once flowed on Mars and that's what we humans need to
survive.
Obviously
the fact that it's 70 million kilometres away doesn't help but it's not
impossible, is it? 1,000 years ago the fastest travel was by horse at
about 50kph, and now Concorde travels at 2,250 kph. At the moment our
ultimate vehicle the space shuttle orbits earth at 28,000 kph so who's to
say what speed will be achieved over the next 1,000 years. Space itself
has no air resistance remember and our limitations at the moment are not
just engine power but also the materials used to construct the craft. You
must surely believe that someone somewhere is already working on a
solution though, don't you, I do.
And once we've made it to Mars
we'll go on further and further because it's human nature to explore. Even
if the earth itself was destroyed by some catastrophic event some time in
the distant future then mankind will surely survive. We will one day
have colonies on various planets, floating hotels in space for that well
earned two week holiday, and asteroids will be mined for all the valuable
sources of minerals they contain. What conditions humans can't endure then
machines will take their place. We've already had a 'robot' send back
images from Mars that was being controlled back here on earth and
computers and the internet have already changed the way we communicate.
With what's now regarded as a simple PC connected to a modem you can type
words on your screen that appear instantly on the screen of your fellow
web surfer in Australia. The addition of a camera enables you to see each
other too and as telecom and cable companies perfect their technology the
quality will improve immensely.
Mobile phones are now commonplace and
if equipped with a satellite phone you can sit on a fallen tree in deepest
darkest Amazon or on the top of Mount Everest and phone your Granny to
tell here you'll be late home for tea. That technology already exists and
it's a matter of time before prices drop enough for them to become
commonplace too.
The future is already here and happening right now.
Forget travelling back in time, that's history, it's the future that's a
mystery. If we had an impossible dream last millennium it's already
happened and who's to know what the next 1,000 years has in store for us.
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