Space Ethics PDF
Preview Space Ethics
Space Ethics Space Ethics Brian Patrick Green ROWMAN&LITTLEFIELD Lanham•Boulder•NewYork• London PublishedbyRowman&Littlefield AnimprintofTheRowman&LittlefieldPublishingGroup,Inc. 4501ForbesBoulevard,Suite200,Lanham,Maryland20706 https://rowman.com 6TinworthStreet,LondonSE115AL,UnitedKingdom Copyright©2022byBrianPatrickGreen Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereproducedinanyformorbyanyelectronicormechanical means,includinginformationstorageandretrievalsystems,withoutwrittenpermissionfromthepublisher, exceptbyareviewerwhomayquotepassagesinareview. BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationInformationAvailable LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData Names:Green,BrianPatrick,author. Title:Spaceethics/BrianPatrickGreen. Description:Lanham:Rowman&Littlefield,2021.|Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex. Identifiers:LCCN2021025441(print)|LCCN2021025442(ebook)|ISBN9781786600264(cloth)|ISBN 9781786600271(paperback)|ISBN9781786600288(epub) Subjects:LCSH:Astronautics—Moralandethicalaspects.|Astronautics—Socialaspects.|Outerspace— Exploration—Moralandethicalaspects. Classification:LCCBJ60.G742021(print)|LCCBJ60(ebook)|DDC174/.96294—dc23 LCrecordavailableathttps://lccn.loc.gov/2021025441 LCebookrecordavailableathttps://lccn.loc.gov/2021025442 TMThepaperusedinthispublicationmeetstheminimumrequirementsofAmericanNationalStandard forInformationSciencesPermanenceofPaperforPrintedLibraryMaterials,ANSI/NISOZ39.48-1992. Contents 1 WhySpaceEthics? 1 2 Questionsof“Should”:EthicsAppliedtoSpace 15 3 RiskandSafety 35 4 SpaceandHumanHealth 51 5 TheDangersofSpaceDebris 67 6 Military,Dual-UseActivities,andInternationalRelationsinSpace 81 7 ProtectingEarthfromHazardousAsteroidsandOtherExtraterrestrialDangers 103 8 AstrobiologyandtheSearchforExtraterrestrialLife 123 9 Contamination,PlanetaryProtection,andResponsibleExploration 135 10 TheSearchforExtraterrestrialIntelligence 153 11 NewPlayersinSpace:NewNationsandCommercial,Private,and NongovernmentalActivities 171 12 TravelingtothePlanetsandtheStars:VeryLongDurationSpaceflightand HumanBiology 195 13 BuildingYourMartianHome:LivinginandSettlementofSpace 217 14 Planetary-ScaleInterventionsonEarthandAfar 239 15 Conclusion 257 Acknowledgments 261 Glossary/Keywords 263 Bibliography 271 Credits 287 Index 289 v Chapter One Why Space Ethics? Figure1.1. Likehumansmightsomedaydoinspacewithplanets,Polynesiannavigatorstraveled enormousdistancesacrossthePacificOceanfindingandsettlinginnumerableislands. 1 2 Chapter1 Space is everything that is around and beyond the Earth; it is “the final frontier”1 of human exploration.Theuniverseisvast,spanningbillionsoflightyears.Incomparison,theEarthisa tinyplace.Yeteveryhumaneverbornhaslivedonthisspeck.Andallhumanethicalsystems have been developed here, with this planet and human beings in mind. Our perspective has beenlimited. However, humankind is leaving the Earth, slowly heading for the stars. In the Apollo missions between 1969 and 1972, humans landed on the Moon and returned to Earth, but no onehasreturnedsince.IntheinterimwehavefilledorbitsaroundtheEarthwithsatellitesand sent probes beyond the edges of the solar system. Space was once about political status and “bigscience,”butnowithasalsobecomebigbusiness,andthenatureofspaceexplorationis changing. Each one of these various endeavors in space raise many questions, such as: Is it technicallypossible?Isitpoliticallypossible?Isiteconomicallyworthit?And,ultimately,the questionofethics:“Isitgood?”Andifso,then:“Shouldwe?” The purpose of this book is to look at the exploration and use of space through an ethical lens, and in so doing not only to provide insight into those specific questions but also to investigatethevarioushumanethicalresourcesavailableforsuchexaminationsandhopefully tofindnewinsightsintoourpresentethicalproblemshereonEarth. EXPLORATION Space exploration is a particular kind of exploration, and as such it is helpful to situate it within the context of the history of exploration of the Earth. The earliest human ancestors originatedinAfricaandthenspreadacrosstheworld,evenreachingTierradelFuegoandthe tiny islands of the Pacific. Later waves of humans also spread forth from various locales on Earth,propelledbytechnologicalinnovations;political,religious,andeconomicinterests;and populationpressure.Atthispointintime,therearefewplacesonthelandsurfaceoftheEarth that humanshavenot explored (thoughtheicecaps of Greenland and Antarctica are not well explored and the deep oceans even less—and that is most of the planet). Instead, in recent decades,withlittlelandtoexplore,humanshaveexploredmoreinwardlyanddeeply,through the arts, sciences, and technology, expanding our knowledge of the universe without going veryfarspatially.Onefruitofthisscientificandtechnologicalexplorationhasbeenincredible knowledgeofspace.Thisknowledgeofspace—thatitcontainselementsusableforhumanlife andnewplaceshumanscouldsettle—alongwiththetechnologytonowreachtheseplacesand even survive and flourish there has made people interested in doing so. After exploring the Earth,touchingtheMoon,anddoingafewdecadesofresearchbefore our nextstep, it seems thatitmightnowbethetimetotakethatnextstepandgoforthintospace.Itseemsthenatural nextstepintheprogressionofhistory.Butshouldwe? While many people today might see exploration as an essentially human activity, it is in fact not.2 Humans can choose to explore or not to explore, and cultures throughout history havepredominantlychosenoneortheother,sometimeswithabruptswitchesbetweenthetwo. Ming China is a prime example of a society that boldly ventured forth in exploration, in massiveexpeditionsledbyZhengHeintheearly1400s,onlytolaterchangeitsmindandlet the world come to it. Throughout most of history people simply remained near where they werebornorwithintheterritoryoftheirculturalgroup,andtherewasnoreasontogobeyond that.The “frontier” (ifsuch anotion evenexisted—andthe notion can certainly be a point of critique today) was not a place of curiosity and opportunity but of ignorance, disdain, and peril. WhySpaceEthics? 3 However, not all cultures were or are the same. The open perspective of the earlier Ming has appeared in other places in history too. In Western Europe this open perspective on exploration took root and grew in such a way that has, for better and for worse, strongly contributed toward transforming the world into what it is today. The optimistic ideal of exploration that has captured the Western mind for the past few centuries can be condensed intoaphrasefromEnglishphilosopherandmathematicianAlfredNorthWhitehead,whosaid in 1933, “Without adventure civilisation is in full decay.”3 Is Whitehead right? Are static civilizations actually in decay, or are they in fact “progressive” when they are content with what they have and who they are? How can we know? In this context, Whitehead was referringtothephysicalexplorationofnewplacesandthementalexplorationofnewintellec- tual terrain, but we should not underestimate the connection between the two. Indeed, this volumehopestomakethatconnectionclearer. Beginning in the 1400s, the Age of Discovery began in Europe, as Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, English, French, and others ventured forth in search of profit, knowledge, settlement,andthereligiousconversion—andsometimesdestruction—ofIndigenouspeoples. As Ming China receded from exploration, Europe surged forth, starting colonies around the globe,includinginthe“NewWorld”oftheWesternHemisphere,andbeginningnewscalesof international trade. Two “worlds” became one world. Crops, diseases, trade items, technolo- gies, and peoples—free and enslaved—were transported in a massive process known as the ColumbianExchangethathascontinuedtoshapeeventseversince.4 Exploration isnot without risk, both for the explorer and the explored. While Christopher Columbusiscreditedwith“discovering”theNewWorldin1492,thoughhedidnotrecognize what he had found (and it was already “discovered” by those who lived there, as well as by previousOldWorldexplorers,suchasLeifErikson),whathereallydidwasconnectmultiple civilizationsatverydifferentlevelsoftechnologyandvulnerability.Withinafewdecades,the New World’s Indigenous empires lay in ruins, new empires arose, fortunes were lost and gainedandlostagain,andmillionsweredead.Thishistoricalcaseisparadigmaticofcareless andexploitativeexploration.DespitethegreatgoodsthatcamefromthediscoveryoftheNew World,suchasnewfoodsandresources,massiveeconomicgrowth,scientificdiscoveries,and new forms of governance, there were extremely negative effects too. Genocide, extractive colonialism,andtheintroductionsofdiseasesandinvasivespeciesprovidenegativeexamples, and in the history of exploration, there are many more cases where, in retrospect, contempo- rary humans might wish better decisions had been made. While the “new worlds” of space may seem very different from the “New World” of Earth’s Western Hemisphere and other colonizedlands,humansoughttoheedthelessonsofthepastandpreparetodobetterthanwe havedonebefore.Thequestionsexplorersfaceareoftenethicalquestions,andhowwedecide to act in the face of new opportunities and challenges will set a tone for our endeavors in space.Respectingthispast,thisbookdoesnotrefertospace“colonization”butrathertospace “settlement,”“colonization”notonlybeingoffensivebutalsolikelyaninaccuratedescription ofthestatusoffuturehumansettlementsinspace.5 SHOULDWEGO? While human individuals and cultures can choose not to explore, when they do choose to explore,it can become second nature. For good and for ill, we can be a very curious species. TheWesternexperimentinexplorationhasnowbecomeaglobalexperiment probingscience andtechnology,andthefulloutcomeoftheexperimentisnotyetknown.Sofarthebenefits— longer and healthier lives, improved communication and transportation, alleviation of suffer-
The list of books you might like
