autoevolution's space month

Even if you are not a Star Trek fan, the phrase “space, the final frontier” is sure to strike a chord. Spoken by Patrick Stewart at the beginning of almost all the 178 episodes of “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” it came to stand for all of humanity’s aspirations of leaving behind the home planet and expanding into the galaxy.

Believe it or not, our generation will probably kick into motion the events and technologies that will ultimately lead to this outcome. Sure, humanity got a taste of what’s beyond our planet during the space race of decades ago, but that was only fueled by several nations’ desire to best their opponents for political and military gains.

This time is different. Sure, governments are still involved, but for the first time in history, so are private companies. These are the entities space expansion badly needed to get a significant boost in advancement and scope. SpaceX, Virgin Galactic, Blue Origin are just the most prominent of the probably hundreds of companies fighting to advance their own goals, and ultimately the world’s, when it comes to space exploration.

It is during our lifetime that humanity will once again reach for the Moon by sending their best and brightest up there. From there, it’s on to Mars and possibly even further. It is during our lifetime that we’ll see a spacecraft returning with samples of an asteroid, and another one with pieces taken from Mars.

It’s not long until civilians will take trips up to the edge of space, or visit a space-station resort, or buy one-way tickets to Mars, the place where, if we’re lucky, we’ll begin building settlements by the end of the century.

We know you’ve heard all this before. Dreams of a better future, with people working together to expand humanity’s control over other planets. Dreams of space tourism, off-world cities, spaceships, and space stations. Dreams that never came to be.

But this time, these are more than just dreams. They are plans, backed by state and private entities, most of them already in motion. Plans that will, without a doubt, come to pass.

Still don’t believe us? Then, make sure to keep an eye out on autoevolution in April. It’s Space Month here, and we’re ready to show you how and why the future our grandparents dreamed about is here, now.

Editor's note: This special feature by autoevolution was not sponsored or supported by a third-party.