The Rise of Man
Curiosity and greed opened space to mankind. As he looked up in the night sky, curiosity sparked Man’s ability to dream of space. Greed gave him a reason to invest in the technology to reach the stars. The humble single-use rocket would probably never have been used for space travel unless nations used them as weapons of war. Reusable rockets and space shuttles were deployed when war no longer loomed over the skies of Earth and civilian governments demanded more for less. The space plane made space travel feasible for corporations, and space as a market for all commercial interests opened up.
“The giant leap for mankind” was dwarfed by another step: the permanent habituation of space. The journey to Earth’s lunar companion was a short excursion; living in space is another matter, and living in space independently of Earth is on an order of magnitude more important. With access to space and the promise of ever-expanding wealth and profit, there was a great need for the ability to live in space without having to depend on expensive resources lifted from Earth – to truly live off the land.
From the ability of cheaply climbing the gravity wells and the ability to live off the land, Mankind was able to secure her destiny as a space-faring species. Soon, the planets and moons in the Solar system were colonized and the era of interplanetary conquest had begun.
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