By Kat Rendon
10/06/2021
On September 18, 2021, Inspiration4 landed off the coast of Florida in the Atlantic Ocean, indicating the end of the first civilian space trip without an astronaut onboard the shuttle. Three members of the exploration were everyday people: a data engineer, a community college professor, and a physician’s assistant. The fourth member and financier of the exploration was billionaire Jared Isaacman, who was unacquainted with the other crew members before this trip. Mr. Isaacman named the available seats after qualities he wanted the mission to demonstrate.
With the goal of raising money for St. Jude, the seats were named “Hope,” “Generosity,” “Prosperity,” and “Leadership” and awarded to individuals who embodied these traits. For “Hope,” Hayley Arceneaux, a 29-year-old physician’s assistant with St. Jude and cancer survivor was chosen. “Prosperity” went to Sian Proctor, who sells space-themed art and was the first Black woman to pilot any spacecraft. Christopher Sembroski snagged the “Generosity” seat by raising money for St. Jude through a raffle. Finally, Mr. Isaacman took the “Leadership” seat. With a crew of diverse members of society, Inspiration4 marks a new frontier of space exploration that will hopefully be more accessible to everyday people rather than just the ultra-wealthy. Although the prospect of casual trips to the cosmos still remains in the distant future, as space exploration expands, we must consider the ethical implications of space exploration, what the motivating factors are, and how we can increase accessibility while limiting potential abuse.
Who Gets To Go?
Though Inspiration4’s crew was composed entirely of everyday people, the mission was still funded and spearheaded by a billionaire. As space travel becomes more accessible for billionaires, these billionaires must use their wealth to provide others with opportunities that they might otherwise not have. Jared Isaacman did just that. However, as opportunities for space open up to more billionaires, we, as private citizens, must push government officials to rigorously assess the motivations behind their desires for space travel. Are they simply going to achieve a lifelong dream, or are there other motives, such as establishing outposts, that are fueling the desire to break through the atmosphere?
How can we ensure that one group does not create a monopoly involving space exploration?
Though International Space Law lays out parameters for how space exploration should operate, these laws will inevitably be challenged as space travel becomes more common than when The Outer Space Treaty was first signed in 1967. The treaty lays out guidelines for what can and can’t be done in space. For example, nuclear weapons cannot be sent into orbit, and explorations must avoid “harmful contamination” of celestial bodies. To prevent any abuse of power in space exploration, government officials must come together to reassess the implications of an increase in space travel. Uninhabited planets are the perfect breeding ground for corruption if not proactively addressed.
What about the general ethics of exploring uninhabited planets and potentially setting up establishments?
An instinct of explorers from Earth is to make their mark on what they discover. Go to any national park and inevitably, despite signs telling visitors to take only pictures and leave only footprints, you will find vandalism and trash galore. As space exploration becomes more accessible, debates regarding the ethicality of establishing settlements on other planets will become more commonplace. There are already different views of space exploration and how it should be conducted.
An anthropocentric view promotes the value and continued existence of human life over living or nonliving organisms. With this view, there is no issue of the inhabitants of Earth landing on a planet and changing it to better support human life, dismissing any native species already present.
Biocentrism promotes the value of all life, not just that of human beings or higher-evolved organisms. Biocentrism appears to promote fairness for all but does not come without its gray areas. While it may seem frivolous to care about microorganisms, consider this: billions of years ago, life on Earth consisted of microorganisms. Had species from another planet come to Earth and inhabited it, life as we know it may never have evolved.
Preservationists believe in preserving the state of the universe. Whether living or nonliving organisms are found does not matter to a preservationist; rather, they believe all nature has value and should be preserved as-is. On one hand, this view insists on peace and preventing violence or extreme disturbances to space (e.g. not allowing the detonation of nuclear weapons to alter the Martian atmosphere). On the other, it assumes that the universe is unchanging and only altered by human intervention. This view focuses on rehabilitating the Earth, rather than looking to leave this planet for another.
What about the problems of our current planet?
Much of the desire to explore space entertains the possibility of leaving Earth for another planet. In looking to potentially inhabit Mars (or other planets) in the distant future, we need to ensure that we do not repeat the same mistakes that have contributed to the environmental crisis here on Earth.
Some billionaires posit themselves as explorers of the cosmos, but they fail to address key issues that contribute to the climate crisis on Earth. According to Project Drawdown, a non-profit based in San Francisco, 12 out of the top 20 climate solutions involve reforestation or agriculture. Despite this, most of the billionaires focus on other methods. As Christian Kroll, the CEO of Ecosia says, these billionaires are focused on the “Iron Man way” of innovating their way out of climate change.
As space exploration becomes more commonplace, we must ensure its equity and fairness by diversifying who gets to go and rigorously assessing the motives and goals of those who do. If governments are not proactive in creating laws and restrictions around space travel, other celestial worlds, like other once unexplored areas on Earth, will be exploited and mistreated.
