The beginnings of space exploration can be traced all the way back to ancient astronomers, and though the names of the planets that are familiar to us all are named after Roman deities, different societies across the world observed and studied our solar system as well. In fact, the Ancient Mayans observed and documented Venus as early as 650 B.C. and took special note of its because of its regular appearance and disappearance.
However, it wasn't until Nicolaus Copernicus that the notion that the planets revolved around the earth was disproved. In his Heliocentric Theory, Copernicus was the first to propose that the planets, including Earth revolved around the sun and that the Earth had motions including its daily rotation and the annual tilting of its axis.
As space exploration advanced, it encouraged others to push the bounds of what could be possible, particularly novelists. In The Fountains of Paradise, Arthur C. Clarke describes the creation of a space elevator in the twenty second century. Though this may seem unreasonable, a space elevator along with other structures may be possible with today's technology. These technological advancements have also spurred today's pursuit of space tourism, a segment of the aviation industry which is attempting to give tourists the ability to become astronauts and experience space travel for recreational, leisure, or business purposes. Though this seems fun, I think for many taking part in space tourism is simply a way to demonstrate the inhumane amount of wealth they possess. I also think, in a time where it is necessary for states across the world to address climate change, space tourism will simply add to the problem.
Works Cited
Henderson, Isaac, and Wai Hong Kan Tsui. “The Role of Niche Aviation Operations as Tourist Attractions.” Air Transport: A Tourism Perspective, 2019. ScienceDirect, https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/social-sciences/space-tourism.
“How did we discover the planets in our Solar System?” BBC, https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zjnw4xs. Accessed 26 May 2022.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/21/business/space-tourism-climate-change.html. Accessed 27 May 2022.
Vesna, Victoria. Lecture Part 1.
Vesna, Victoria. Lecture Part 2.
Vesna, Victoria, director. “Lecture Part 1 -Intro.”
Work Cited (Images)
“Copernican heliocentrism.” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copernican_heliocentrism. Accessed 27 May 2022.
Kessler, Sarah. “Jeff Bezos vows to fight climate change, but space tourism could do more harm, critics say.” The New York Times, 20 September 2021,
“The Sophistication of Mayan Astronomy | Professor Gerardo Aldana.” Filling Space, 28 December 2018, https://filling-space.com/2018/12/28/the-sophistication-of-mayan-astronomy/. Accessed 27 May 2022.
I liked reading about the older knowledge of space because I wrote my blog on the more modern applications of space and art so it was good to see another perspective.
ReplyDelete