One of the most fundamental aspects of life is its relentless pursuit of new environmental niches to colonize. It seems inevitable that, sooner or later, living things will spread off the planet–if not us, then perhaps whatever comes after us. Seen this way, a space station need not be a tin can. It can be like the reptile’s egg, the bold evolutionary innovation that contained the water and the salts of the oceans and brought them safely onto land.
- - “MIR vs. Pathfinder” by Corey Powell, 1997.
First published by the L.A. Times.
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