In a ball of fire, Cassini's 20-year journey across the solar system came to an abrupt finale last week. This moment concluded 13 years of intense exploration of Saturn, and left us with further evidence that there are conditions to support life in parts of our solar system beyond Earth.
Cassini was launched in 1997 as a collaboration between NASA, the Italian Space Agency, and the European Space Agency at a time when Saturn had only 12 known moons. The spacecraft's odyssey soon revealed not 12 but 62 moons orbiting the gas giant. The most significant of these is Titan, which harbours twice as much liquid water — considered to be essential to the existence of life — as Earth.
Meanwhile back on Earth, a drama less spectacular yet of dire consequence is unfolding. Keeping global warming under 2 degrees Celsius is proving to be an arduous task. Rising sea levels due to overpopulation and the burning of fossil fuels have already begun lapping at the doors of the poorest people in our world.
By the end of the decade, the nation of Kiribati will disappear into the ocean. Despite their pleas to the UN for international climate action, they are being ignored by world leaders through their soft-line approach to the burning of fossil fuels. The lack of binding policy, and commitment to global carbon offsets, has already previewed a future world that chooses convenience over charity, and luxury over compassion.
In the photographs taken by Cassini, Titan looks idyllic. It seems to have deep blue shadows, not unlike the rivers and shorelines found on Earth. While bathing in these lakes may still be a long way off for earthlings, scientists say it is no longer a question of if there is life in space, but when we will find it. So, when we do find conditions to support life in space, what will it mean for the future of humanity?
For years, the idea of humans in space has dominated science fiction. In fact many books and films such as Christopher Nolan's film Interstellar have raised the possibility of humans having to move to other parts of the galaxy in order to escape a dying planet. Life on other worlds is romanticised in Star Wars, where people trade, colonise and even conquer other planets.
This on-screen narrative isn't too far afield from the ambitions of some of the richest people on Earth today. Richard