The answer that springs clearly to my mind is—human survival. We are following Darwin’s policy of “survival of the fittest” (Herbert Spencer used the phrase in his Principles of Biology of 1864 after reading Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species). However, I would like to put it another way—are humans fit to survive?
Humans live on a fragile planet called Earth, and our current climate problems underline this. We are only 10,000 years into this present Interglacial (Holocene), and we maybe have ten thousand more years to fully master space travel. Our previous climate changes make this mastery urgent. In order to make humanity independent of Earth we need to be able to survive independently of this fragile home. If anything should happen to endanger our home planet, then we should be in a position to exist in space and hopefully find another home on another planet. We take out Home Insurance on our homes—and so this is simply another form of planetary Home Insurance. This is our future safety—our nest egg—our reserve position for human survival. If the above proposition is plausible, then we are not spending enough on space exploration.” What can a mere cat add to that…I ask you?
