Space travel has progressed, albeit slowly, since Yuri Gagarin became the first person to travel into space in 1961. Fast-forward a few years to 1968, and Neil Armstrong became the first person to walk on the Moon. In a few years, we can expect NASA astronauts to visit Mars, too.
Science philanthropist Yuri Milner emphasises that the more we invest in space exploration, the closer we will come to understanding our Universe. He positions understanding our Universe as a mission that humanity must embrace in his short book Eureka Manifesto: The Mission for Our Civilization.
We’re On Our Journey to Creating a Galactic Civilisation
Eureka Manifesto may be a short read — it’s only around 100 pages long — but the personal manifesto’s message is powerful. Milner explains that humans are the only beings in the cosmos who can explore and understand. Therefore, it makes sense that it’s up to us to investigate the Universe.
Taking on this mission will allow us to ensure humanity survives well into the future. It doesn’t matter that we come from different backgrounds and cultures. We can all come together to improve our livelihoods and potentially even create a galactic civilisation.
We’re still a long way off colonising the galaxy, though. The furthest we’ve travelled beyond Earth to leave our footprint is the Moon, and that was 50 years ago. However, new government space programmes and private initiatives have progressed spaceflight technologies further, and we should see more progress soon.
Yuri Milner’s Investments to Support Humanity’s Mission
Milner is one of the entrepreneurs investing heavily in space exploration to make this progress happen. For example, Breakthrough Starshot, one of his Breakthrough Initiatives, is developing interstellar travel technology.
Milner launched this $100 million research and engineering initiative in 2016 with Mark Zuckerberg and Stephen Hawking. The project plans to launch an uncrewed flyby mission to Alpha Centauri within the next generation.
Milner discusses the importance of investing resources into space exploration in Eureka Manifesto. He describes this as one of the steps we need to take to embrace our mission.
Beyond Starshot, Milner is investing resources in another two of his five Breakthrough Initiatives: Breakthrough Listen and Breakthrough Watch. Breakthrough Listen is searching for signs of extraterrestrial life beyond Earth. Breakthrough Watch is locating and characterising habitable planets around stars that are within 20 light years of our planet.
Writing The Next Chapters of the Universal Story
In Eureka Manifesto, Milner proposes that our destiny is to become a galactic civilisation. Expanding our species into space, perhaps via robots, could help humanity survive for the long term. It could also allow us to discover incomprehensible wonder beyond what we already know.
Milner considers the possibility of an ending to the Universal Story where we don’t explore space a “profound waste.” In this scenario, we would “remain defined by our humble beginnings on this one little planet rather than by a grand future in the galaxy.”
Our ancestors have enabled travel around the world, opening up our experiences of cultures, music, and art. We can achieve similar progress for our descendants by enabling travel into space.
Read Eureka Manifesto for free online.
About Yuri Milner
Philanthropist Yuri Milner has co-launched several science-based projects, including the Breakthrough Initiatives. These space science programmes are leading the way in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI).
Milner is also a co-founder of the Breakthrough Prize, the world’s biggest award in science. Researchers who are changing our lives for the better win $3 million prizes and celebrate at the annual, televised “Oscars of Science.”
Milner is one of the creators behind the Breakthrough Junior Challenge, too. This annual, global contest encourages teenagers to create videos that make a complex scientific concept easy to understand. The winner receives life-changing projects, while young people planet-wide educate each other.
On top of this, Milner is a co-founder of Tech For Refugees. This non-profit funds leading technology organisations that have the resources to support displaced people worldwide.
