New Space Capsule

This hasn't flown yet, but already the hype from Elon Musk, the company's head honcho, speaks of the Moon and other planets, and eventually beyond our solar system.

One hopes he is doing his homework on all that, and has taken a damned good look at photos of the Moon and Mars, and noted carefully the lack of water or vegetation or other natural life support systems. And one hopes he realizes how distant other bodies beyond our solar system really are, and how long it would take to get there. The reality is nothing like we see on TV in shows like Star Trek or Star Wars. Those are science fiction, and before you remind me that a lot of past science fiction has become science fact in my lifetime, nevertheless very few of us have any real concept of what's involved in interstellar travel. All we know for sure at the moment is that there's nothing like Earth anywhere within reach.

That brings me to this Question Everything: Since we've made such a mess of our own planet, should we really inflict ourselves on any other? We can't exist peacefully here, yet we're talking of invading other planets. Have we even listened to ourselves or realized how egotistical and excessively stupid we sound?

If there is intelligent life elsewhere in the Universe, and there very likely is, it is probably avoiding us because it knows better than to become involved with such an inferior species. They're probably waiting for us to kill ourselves off and for peace to return to this part of the galaxy. And who could blame them?