On December 25, 2021, NASA successfully launched the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the most powerful space telescope ever created, which promises to completely transform the way we study the cosmos. Looking up at the stars last night, I couldn’t help but think about what we might learn from JWST’s ability to look back toward the beginning of time. What will 13.8 billion-year-old light look like? Will the observations match the mathematical predictions? Will we be closer to understanding where we came from?
While reading about the space program, I learned that the International Space Station will be decommissioned within a few years and, instead of replacing it, NASA plans to rent space on private commercial space stations.
If the economic incentives are out there (and it is likely that they are), we are just a few decades away from unregulated (and unregulatable) exploration and exploitation of the “final frontier.” I’m not sure whether to be excited or scared.
Author’s note: This is not a sponsored post. I am the author of this article and it expresses my own opinions. I am not, nor is my company, receiving compensation for it.