I want a spaceship

Yep. You heard me. Spaceship. And not one of those sub orbital jobbies like Virgin Galactic is working on, or even a space shuttle. I want an intergalactic cruiser, capable of traversing the stars just like in the movies, where it might take a day or two just to get from point A to point B lightyears away. Sounds like I watch Star Trek doesn't it? Well you would be right.

The inky blackness of space and all its infinitesimal beauty astounds me. If I had the brains to be one, I could most definitely be an astronomer, staring through the telescope late into the night watching the twinkling little dots which would seem inconsequential to the average Joe, but are truly the necessity of life. I have a broad enough imagination that lets me believe the idea that we are not alone in the universe, and that if we do find another race of beings, they might not be carbon based. They might not need water. They might eat rocks for all I know. But one thing I can't believe is that they would evolve without a star to call their own. Stars keep all kinds of raw materials in its grasp to use as the building blocks of life, and they also cradle worlds for that life to flourish on. Knowing that if you were to look at most of the exoplanet data we've collected so far, you would find that most worlds are inhospitable to us, and potentially to anyone else as well. But there are many within a reasonable range to their respective stars to have life grow on, and that life could be anything. Who are we to have a monopoly on life anyways? Our human arrogance since perceiving our mastery of our world has grown exponentially. However Mother Nature is a true environmentalist, and recycling is big for her. Even with all our technology, and grasp of the natural world, she spares no way of letting us know that she is still in charge. Her message can come from here on Earth in the form of typhoons and hurricanes, to earthquakes, and even snow storms, or it can come from outside the atmosphere. It would take nothing for her to wipe us out using a coronal mass ejection, a comet, or even an asteroid. A better likelihood would be that we would not see it until it was too late, and even if we did discover doom was upon us, what could we do about it?

To use a really poor analogy, our lives are like a Rugby game, and we have the ball. We have to bob and weave, push and shove to retain control of the bladder to make it to the other end. Otherwise the other team will take control and run with what we've earned by quick wits and brute force. Life in many ways is not about intellect but rather raw power and faster reactions. Right now we are the most advanced civilization we know about, but it really means nothing if we can't take the hit. We need to take the bladder and move it about, dodging the other galactic team, to make sure we can still be in the game. For that we'll need to use our wits, take some chances, and get that spaceship working. We've explored a lot of places here on Earth, and some on nearby planets, now we should start looking at what it takes to move our team into the big leagues.

So I want a spaceship to go traipsing about the galaxy looking for a new place to hang my hat. Maybe I can start a bar on some distant asteroid so I can serve drinks to wandering explorers looking for their own piece of wonder.