Have We Colonized Space Without Even Noticing?

What were you doing on October 30th 2000? Can’t remember? Shame on you. It was a watershed in human history. To our descendants, it could rival or even surpass the 4th of July 1776, or September 11th 2001 as a memorable date. Yet according to Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/30_October, nothing of note seems to have happened other than the death of US comedian Steve Allen. So what the hell am I talking about?

Quite simply, it was the last time every human was on Earth.

The next day, Commander Bill Shepherd and two Russian colleagues blasted off for the nascent International Space Station (ISS). Since then, there have always been at least two members of our species up there in the firmament. Bill and Co.’s mission marked nothing less than the start of humanity’s permanent colonization of space. Probably.

You see, the ISS is still our only foothold in the Great Beyond. With all our space eggs in one aluminum basket, any major problems could scupper that continuous presence. It nearly happened when the Colombia orbiter broke up in 2003, grounding the shuttle for nearly three years. During the hiatus, Americans became reliant on Russian Soyuz vehicles to access the station, and further construction was put on ice. But still it kept going, a testament to the benefits, nay necessity, of international partnerships in operating something as complicated and expensive as a space station. A similar collaboration will be sought for the proposed US moon base, coming to a satellite near you from 2020.

Indeed, as we look ahead to what this new year will bring, cooperation will be something of a watchword within space circles. In 2007, the station will well and truly reclaim both its international adjective and objective. During five shuttle missions, new modules and laboratories will be added from the USA, Japan and Europe. And the Canadians will also be lending a hand, literally, with a super-sophisticated, multi-armed robotic claw to help with station assembly (I can’t help thinking there’s a horrific sci-fi film in there somewhere). Europe will also launch an unmanned supply vehicle - the Jules Verne - adding contingency in case anything should happen to Russian or US cargo vehicles. And alternative manned vehicles are on the drawing boards of several private companies looking to make a buck or two from NASA.

All in all, things are looking comparatively rosy for the ISS at the moment. Our foothold in space is slowly becoming secure. It’s worth remembering, though, that we have been here before. The Soviet/Russian Mir station was permanently occupied for even longer - almost ten years between 1989 and 1999. But that was de-orbited into the Pacific before the ISS came online, leaving a human-shaped hole in earth orbit.

This time round, it should be different. Even if something goes awry with the ISS - perhaps if that giant claw goes all ‘Hal’ and starts cutting holes in the hull - there are other outposts waiting in the wings. The Chinese are expected to launch a manned space station by 2010. And in the private sector, Las Vegas multi-millionaire Robert Bigelow is working on an inflatable space hotel, after successfully demonstrating the technology in orbit last year. Further test flights will follow throughout 2007, with a habitable structure circling the Earth by the end of the decade. Other private enterprises will no doubt follow Bigelow’s lead. Ten years on from that, and NASA hopes to have a permanent moon base with the help of private industry and as-yet unannounced international partners. The Chinese and Russians have parallel ambitions, with Europe, Japan, India and others all clamoring to join in somehow. It’s going to get pretty cluttered up there.

If the ISS can hang on just four or five more years, school children of the 22nd Century might well be learning all about Bill Shepherd, and that glorious date in October 2000. So you may want to root through your old diaries, in case the great-grandchildren ask what you were up to on the day we ‘conquered’ space.