Journey of exploration leads mankind to greater heights

The Nasa space programme has, over the years, received criticism for spending millions exploring space, while it fails to benefit mankind, that is ravished by plague, famine and hunger right here on Earth.

This negative perception of the space programme has not deterred Nasa in its quest to go beyond where man has gone before (I am not punting the Star Trek series!).

They celebrated another great milestone when one of their spacecraft, New Horizons, became the first one to reach the distant dwarf planet – Pluto.

This is a significant event as it is seen as the last unexplored world in the solar system.

The United States can also now claim to be the only nation to have visited every planet in the classical solar system (one wonders if Americans now see themselves as the defenders of the free world and the solar system?)

For those who wish to know, Pluto is 7.5 billion kilometres from Earth and lies in a region of space at the edge of the solar system called the Kuiper belt. Astronomers call it the third zone of space.

Alongside the Pluto system in the belt are comets and more than 100 000 miniature worlds. New Horizons is, therefore, expected to continue its mission into the Kuiper belt, so watch out for some interesting photos and discoveries.

Stephen Hawking, the Cambridge cosmologist, also congratulated the New Horizons team in a recorded message.

“The revelations of New Horizons may help us to understand better how our solar system was formed. We explore because we are human and we long to know,” he said.

One can, therefore, ask the question: what is the point of the Pluto journey?

Maybe the answer lies in Hawking’s assessment that, because man is human, we love to explore.

And where would man be today without exploration?

It has, at least, forced mankind to reassess itself in the wake of bloody barbarism, to force itself to hope for a better world not torn apart by violence and to instil courage to seek peace in the face of fear and intolerance.

After all, without this inherent desire to explore, where would America be if Columbus did not have the courage to lose sight of the shore? What would have happened if Dom Vasco da Gama failed to lose sight of the shore?

Over the years, the world has been thoroughly explored geographically, yet explorations continue as we push the limits of science and technology (mass communication continues to evolve and mutate daily).

One can only pay tribute to the great explorers like Thomas Edison (electric light bulb), the Wright Brothers (aircraft), Benjamin Franklin (electricity), Charles Babbage (first mechanical computer), James Watt (inventor of the steam engine), Alexander Bell (practical telephone) and Leonardo Da Vinci (invented models that proved workable years later).

Their thirst for exploration has made it easier for us all today, even though Eskom is doing its best to undo the work of Franklin!

Over thousands of years, scholars, artists, philosophers, scientists and humanitarians have all embarked on this journey of exploration to understand existence and man’s place on this little green and blue planet.

Nasa’s space journey might not benefit all of mankind by eradicating poverty, famine or plague, but it reminds the world that we need to keep on exploring and must never lose that desire to explore, because is does make a difference.

After all, we still need to keep on exploring ways to push the limits of the medical field and keep on tackling the challenges of our resources like water and oil running lower each year.

And maybe it should also remind us that we are not the centre of the universe and that, even though we have achieved extraordinary things, we should remain humble, because we have, at the same time, been responsible for horrendous crimes.

So, while that little spacecraft up in the universe is spinning and clicking away, at least it serves as a reminder to mankind to keep on losing sight of the shore and yes, to look after this little planet that is but a tiny speck in the larger scheme of things.

Let us also be reminded, while we watch Greece struggle to pay back its debt and cyclists tackle the daunting Tour de France, that the greatest exploration on which mankind should constantly embark is the inner exploration to become a better human being.

This simple, yet vital exploration is at the heart of Mandela Day, because what does it benefit mankind if we conquer the solar system, yet cannot conquer the depravity of our souls?