Rick Tumlinson is the founder of SpaceFund, a venture capital firm investing in space startups. He also founded the Space Frontier Foundation, Earthlight Foundation, and New Worlds Institute and was a founding board member of the X Prize Foundation. He contributed the following piece — an edited essay from his upcoming book "Why Space: The Purpose of People," to be published in the spring of 2025 — to Space.com's Expert Voices section.
My daughter is about to turn 12. To her, I am an ancient being; to me, she is an unfolding experiment, a constant reminder that growth is a process — one neither we nor humanity itself are born fully into. Watching her navigate the stages of childhood offers striking parallels to humanity's relationship with our environment and our aspirations.
