Final Project

Katherine C.

Legislator:  Tom Haywood, Senator

(Click on the image above to enlarge.)

Why do we Explore: The Thrill of the Unknown

Why do we explore? "Veni, Vidi, Vinci." I came, I saw, I conquered.  These three famous words spoken by Julius Caesar have come to shape the way that humans live their lives or imagine how they should be living it.  Whether consiously or subconciously humans have a desire to obtain the unobtainable or imagine the unimaginable. We are taught to be all that you can be. Human beings have a thrill for the unknown. The mission in most individuals life is to leave an impact and the age old, guaranteed way to do this is to do the, thus far, undone. So, why do we explore? It can all be answered very simply, human curiosity, the thrill of the unknown.

Since the beginning humans have been curious; it is what makes us who we are. We would not be the people we are today if curiosity was nonexistent.  It is human nature to question and ask why and how. These fundamental questions have led us to make discoveries. They make generations remarkable.

Since the beginning of mankind humans have lived to be remembered. Every generation wants to produce the next Julius Caesar, Beethoven, Albert Einstein, or like personnel. And if they can't produce this one famous individual that will go down in history books as personifying their era, then they will work to create an object or do something that has, up to that point, yet to be done.

Examples of the pursuits that humans have undertaken are numerous. Humans have "conquered" all sorts of wild terrains throughout the centuries. From Caesar overcoming the barbaric Gauls and Columbus discovering the New World to putting a human on the moon, each one has left its impact on the present day human race. Each one has stimulated this desire to be remembered as doing something big. Each one has ventured into the unknown and conquered it.

These goals though adapt to the times. Each goal while noteworthy at its time would lose esteem in later years and vice a versa. If we had a person set out to conquer another nationality now they would quickly be caught and locked away. If the Romans thought about putting a man in space it is highly likely that they would be considered crazed. After all, the only space they knew of was the heavens where the gods resigned.

Throughout the ages each generation's goal has grown substantially with the advancement of technology. After all, how would it have been possible for Caesar to reach the moon, I doubt that catapults had that much trajectory.  It is through each obtainment of these goals that we have shaped the way that the majority of humankind lives.

Humans are now on a mission to find another unknown that they might set out to conquer and recover. Mars is an unkown to mankind as a whole. Each day the educated and few learn more about the planet that we call Mars.  Humankind as a whole knows generally all they want to know right now. They know that Mars is very similar to Earth. So similar in fact that it is called the Earth's sister planet. It is known that Mars is more than likely capable of sustaining lifeforms and that sometime in its past it might have done just that. While some individuals now more than this the general public is willing to feign ignorance so they can claim a reason to visit Mars... "we don't know anything about it."

Mars is our unkown our thus far unreachable that we have yet to obtain admittance to. But now we have our ticket and we are just waiting for the ticket taker to come and rip off the stub so that we can get on and enjoy the ride. While some realize that the ride to Mars won't be well oiled and smooth because they realize that it still needs some work on it. Most are more concerned about being there not the getting there part. After all Columbus is rembered for his landing and thus discovery of the New World, not his journey across the Atlantic Ocean to get there. In history books we sometimes read about how hard and grueling his journey was, this is because it had thus far not been done. Columbus and his crew were not prepared to reach a New World because they did not know that there was one out there.

Much like we cannot be for sure of all that is out in space. We are lucky enough to know about this new world that is so commonly referred to as Mars.  But the venture out there will be much like Columbus's journey so long ago. It will be in uncharted water with many unknown obstacles. Sending a man to land on Mars would be unknown. Something that humans have a thrill for. It would go down in history and later generations would recall this era by way of it.

So why do we explore? While there are many reasons why we explore one that will always unmistakably be on the list is human curiosity, the thrill of the unknown.

Sites:

http://humbabe.arc.nasa.gov/mgcm/fun/pop.html

http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mystique/filmradio.html

http://www.marswest.org/

http://www-sn.jsc.nasa.gov/outreach/activities/destmars/destmarsLes6.pd

Pschology, Seventh Edition; Lefton, Lester A. Allyn and Bacon 2000

Last Updated: 09/07/01