The title of the post is meant to be provocative. It certainly doesn't specifically discuss the idea in great depths. However, the discussions that are beginning in the early 21st century represent a realization that biological humans will never go to space. When I say go to space - I mean outside of our solar system. That is why I posted it. Our desire to explore space will be one of the many pressures that cause us to gradually replace our biological systems with non-biological systems. This process will begin with us becoming cyborgs and end with us leaving our biological systems behind all together. mk said it best:I highly doubt that cyborgs will win over completely non-biological AI. There's nothing biological that is advantageous for space exploration.
IMO it all comes down to how artificial intelligence arises. If we can create non-human intelligence that supercedes our own, then I think we have little choice but to be left in the dust. Non-biological intelligence won't be tethered to us for long, and will probably start doing things for its own reasons. However, that is an interesting situation in of itself: we have evolutionarily ingrained bahaviors that mix with our intelligence. Non-biological intelligence will not. Therefore, its motivations might seem very alien to us.
Becoming post-biological does not mean we will leave this planet. But it will enable us to inhabit multiple planets (and multiple star systems). Unless... transcension.