It’s not all stars and galaxies
I took an astronomy course because, like most humanities students, I needed to fulfill a breadth requirement, and space sounded cool. I ended up finding a second-year course called “Life on Other Worlds”. The course focused on the multidisciplinary study of space through the lens of finding life on other worlds. I took the course to check a box for graduation, but it ended up being one of my favourite courses I have ever taken because of the thought-provoking ethical questions we considered. I will never forget the last lecture when my professor, Dr. Michael Reid, made an announcement that immediately received a round of applause: “Close your laptops; this won’t be on the final exam. We are finally going to talk about aliens.”
Not to discourage anyone from taking the course, but there are a lot of things you need to know about life and other worlds separately before you can talk about them together. You need to understand the constituent parts to understand the last lecture, or, more accurately, to understand where to go from there.
Space exploration was founded on a bed of nationalism, and the current rise in the public’s interest in space is also due to nationalism. When talking about the beginnings of space exploration, it is impossible not to mention “The Space Race”, the competition between Russia and America over who could have the most “firsts” in the realm of space exploration. This Space Race, and its subsequent victories for astronomy as a science, happened during the Cold War when Russia and America were already at odds. The Moon landing was a monumental event in American history, not just because of the accomplishments in science and math that led to it, but because it was <i>American</i>. The Moon landing is also the first notable instance of space colonization. Nationalism did not drive space exploration solely because it was a way to prove that Americans were better than Russians (or vice versa). Space exploration also provided more physical land to claim in the name of the nation. The public was invested because space exploration was an opportunity for manifest destiny.
Since the riveting discoveries of the sixties and early seventies, American public interest in space exploration has diminished because many viewed the Moon landing as the conclusion to the Space Race. NASA cut funding to its SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) program in 1993, so funding for the search for life on other worlds has since come from private companies. Citizens hold an enormous influence over the future of space exploration because it is paid for with their tax dollars. When the public loses interest in space, space programs are cut. However, it seems that American public interest in space is on the rise, according to a June 2018 study performed at the Pew Research Centre. The study polled 2,500 Americans and found that 72 percent of Americans believed it was essential for the United States to lead the world in space exploration. Only 58 percent shared this view in June of 2011. For context, in the time between these two polls, India successfully launched an interplanetary orbiter on their first try, and Japan landed the first operational rover on an asteroid. Not even two weeks after the results of the poll were released, President Trump announced the creation of the Space Force, a section of the military that would help re-establish “American dominance in space”. Trump’s reasoning behind the Space Force is that he does not want other countries, such as Russia or China, to be ahead of America. Trump’s plan to militarize––and essentially weaponize––space is a terrifying reality, brought on by the growing connection between nationalism and public interest in space travel. Higher public interest in space exploration creates the possibility of reviving the search for extraterrestrial life and provides more funding for space exploration programs. However, it also pushes a Nationalist agenda: which country will obtain the next “first”.
Furthermore, climate change is an increasingly important item of political discussion, but it is a problem for our planet. So how does it relate to space? First of all, it is essential to understand that space exploration is a very young discipline, in comparison to ancient subject areas such as math and literature. The very first images of Earth as seen from space were taken in 1966, and the iconic image of <i>The Blue Marble</i> was captured by the Apollo 17 spacecraft on December 7th, 1972. Before 1966, nobody knew for certain what the Earth looked like; our grandparents grew up without that image of <i>The Blue Marble</i>. Photographic imagery of the Earth has evolved into one of the major types of climate change evidence because it’s easy to see the melting of arctic ice when comparing more recent images of the Earth with older ones. Some imaging satellites can take an even closer look and track the disappearance of specific glaciers. These images portray the undeniable physical effects of climate change.
Image technology can be used to advocate for climate change action, but the search for another habitable planet can make the need to advocate for climate change action seem nonessential. The search for another habitable planet encourages the idea that we may have a “Plan B” if this world gets destroyed. This concept is dangerous because if it appears that we have a backup plan, then people may not care as much about saving this planet. It is common knowledge that climate change is mostly caused by “the one percent” abusing natural resources. The problem with having a backup planet is that, when it comes time to jump ship, the one percent may just be the first and only people who can afford a rowboat. Finding water on Mars is great, but if we start getting ideas that this means there are other habitable planets out there, then the people at the top of the capitalist ladder who are enabling the destruction of our planet will continue to do so. Space exploration has allowed us to look at the Earth critically, but it has also subconsciously encouraged the belief that there is a backup plan, a backup plan that is beneficial only to those who cause the most damage and leave before suffering the consequences.
There is a lot more to space than stars and galaxies, and a lot more to space exploration than biology and physics. The study of space produces new ethical considerations that affect the future of our planet and the future of space exploration itself. Space exploration is meant to explore what is beyond our planet, but what we are looking for has implications and consequences that affect us more closely than you think.
Comments are closed.