"Why do we Explore" by Brian Cox (from BBC The Planets, Into the Darkness)
"Why do we explore?"
some people ask.
Shouldn't we deal with the problems
here on Earth before committing time
and energy and resources
to exploring the stars?
Well, I think focusing
entirely on our mote of dust
would be a profound mistake.
It would mean that we've taken
the decision to sit huddled
in a tiny corner
of the solar system,
wondering what we're doing here.
It would mean that we've taken
the decision to fight amongst
ourselves for ever-more-precious
resources.
Confined below a thin shell
of air on a small rock,
rather than following the
three-dimensional path marked out
by the lights in the night.
We live in
a solar system of wonders,
of planets of storms and moons
of ice and landscapes and vistas
that stir the imagination
and enrich the soul,
a system of limitless resources,
limitless beauty
and limitless potential.
A system that we've only
just begun to explore...
..in a journey that has already
rewarded us with so much