Science estimates that in the Milky Way alone there are seventeen billion planets that roughly approximate the conditions that exist on our earth. A little like the nursery rhyme about the three bears. These planets need to be not too hot - and not too cold, and to support the life we know - they must contain water and an atmosphere.
What seems to be the " impossible equation " is - distance. Most of these planets are many " light years " away. To reach them, the crew of a space vehicle would need to progress through several generations of being born, living their lives and then dieing during the period it would take to travel from earth to this new world. At present, that seems an impossible task.
" Impossible " is a definition that has long been defied by mankind. In 1492 Christopher Columbus set out to find what was on the other side of the Atlantic ocean. It was the age of great exploration, when the people of Europe found distant lands and claimed them for their country. Those were risky journeys into the unknown and not all explorers survived. The ships of that time were fragile by our modern standards.
The next great leap forward was to conquer the skies. In 1903 the Wright brothers made the first flight in a heavier than air machine. Within a few years the aeroplane had developed into a weapon of war and from there is morphed into a mode of transport that has shrunk the planet to cross great oceans in a matter of hours.
We have even managed to leave planet earth. In 1969 Apollo 11 touched down on our moon and the footprints of the Astronauts are still present on the moon's dusty surface. We have sent space probes to distant planets and established a manned space station in orbit. Our communication system depends on satellites beaming signals back to earth. We continue to shrink the age of possibilities and the definition of " impossible " narrows.
It seems that the necessity to colonise some of those distant worlds is a fast approaching imperative. From the days of Christopher Columbus, when the population of the earth was far less than a billion souls - we have expanded to seven billion - and there are no signs that this expansion is even slowing. There is a real danger that our earth population may exceed the food supply and when we have a long, hard look at the tribes of the earth - it presents a dismal picture.
It seems we can agree on absolutely nothing. Even the basics of religion present wide gulfs and in many cases adherents seem prepared to kill to impose their brand of religion on others. Greed and self interest colour the decisions of world bodies and in many instances vast populations exist on the edge of starvation while an elite robs the dividend of their labour to maintain an extravagant lifestyle.
Perhaps we will one day defeat the tyranny of distance and create new worlds in the stars. Unfortunately, we seem destined to export the same problems that make earth a hell for so many people - only now we will introduce a new factor over which to fight.
How long before the will of the most powerful insists on command over both worlds ?
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