The Cradle

Funny. On the day I post about protecting the species, an article appears on space.com about the need for putting humans in space. Money quote:

Robotic planetary exploration is important, as it prepares the way for men and women. However, only humans in space will excite the imagination of the world and only this can protect us from eventual extinction. Our species is at risk as long as we keep all our eggs in one basket, all our progeny on one fragile planet. Konstantin Tsiolkovsky said, “Earth is the cradle of mankind—but one cannot live in the cradle forever!”

The author suggests a National Space Lottery, where a $1.00 ticket gets you the chance to visit space, and the proceeds go toward funding future improvements to get us off this blue rock.