Because of earth's fragility and because I am convinced that human consciousness is unique, I believe strongly in Elon Musk's quest to hedge humanity's bets by ensuring humanity thrives off the earth. In the US where the government's impetus to explore space has been flagging in recent years, Musk's quest to seek to populate humans on other planetary bodies represents the revival of a necessary and proper human quest to advance human progress and to secure human consciousness. Periodic visits to the Fossil Butte National Monument timeline fence serve, at least for me, as a necessary reminder of this exigency: Reach for the stars!