A play on words and study of the concepts of "The Great Filter" Theory, The Drake Equation, and Humanity's aspiration to explore the heavens. "The 'Grate' Escape," changes one word in a well known western phrase to emphasize the filter aspect of human aspiration. Will humanity be the species that bursts free of the bonds of our solar system and become a nearly eternal species that populates the cosmos, or will it fall into itself in a chaotic vortex of violence and technological nihilism, only to slip down the cosmic grate. Does humanity have a destiny with the cosmos? Or, is it just another virus that must be shaken off by an unforgiving universe? Only Time Will Tell.