Ethics of space exploration lecture

Peter Household
Perhaps we can but should we?
Some thoughts on the
ethics of space exploration
Shannonside Astronomy Club
5 Nov 2015

Peter Household – the ethics of space exploration
What do we say about ….. ?
Law in space? …. Law and Metalaw
Planetary protection
What do we protect? Why?
… life? landscape? archaeology?
“The Overprotection of Mars”
Human or robotic explorers?
Terraforming – good, bad, obligatory, unavoidable?
Mining asteroids and the Moon
Private property in space?

What do we say about ….. ?
Invasive science
Mars One – human rights?
Colonising the universe – why?
Does why matter?
What laws will suit a colony on Mars?
Contact with aliens - rules? Protecting us, protecting
them
Weaponisation of space

Law in space?
Ethics in space
• What's permissible
• What's obligatory
• What's prohibited
on the part of moral agents

Law in space?
Law and Metalaw
Attorney Andrew G. Haley in 1956

“ The reach of legal discourse may be constrained by the
boundaries of the territory, terrain or ‘space’ within which legal
rules apply and their enforcement is feasible. However, outer
space, in all its unexplored and unknown vastness, is not
susceptible to these constraints imposed by the puny hands of
human law.
“ But as we probe that vastness, we human beings take with
us ethical frames of reference whose scope and relevance far
exceed the bounds of legal frontiers. ”
Marcio Barbosa, Deputy Director-General of UNESCO,
29 October 2004
Law and ethics

Law in space?
1967 Outer Space Treaty
Freedom of use and exploration
International law
International co-operation
Peaceful purposes
Environmental protection
Non-appropriation of space

Asteroid mining

Asteroid mining
“Outer space, including the moon and other
celestial bodies, is not subject to national
appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by
means of use or occupation, or by any other
means.”
• 1967 Outer Space Treaty, Article II

Asteroid mining
http://www.planetaryresources.com/
http://deepspaceindustries.com/
“international law” ??
“treaty” ???
“ethics” ????

Asteroid mining
Jim Benson, Chairman of the Space Development
Corp, 1997
“ After landing, we will ‘stake’ any mining and patent
claims we believe to be possible, and then will simply
declare ownership of the trillion-dollar asset. This will
help draw attention to the need to establish private
property rights in space. ”
Source: Kenneth Silber, A Little Piece of Heaven, Nov. 1998

Rhododendrons at the Vee, Co Tipperary
An invasive species

forward planetary protection
backward planetary protection

“ We humans have a burning desire to increase our
understanding of everything around us, but we are
accountable to future generations of scientists to
explore our solar system without destroying the
capability of others to conduct their own
investigations. ”
When biospheres collide, Michael Meltzer, NASA 2011.

The “Overprotection of Mars” debate

• heating spacecraft to kill microbes
• sterilised parts in protective wrappings
• protective gear for workers

NASA's Curiosity rover
Operator in
clean-room garb
tests the wheels
Image Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech

• trajectory biasing
• quarantine orbits
• Mars Pathfinder 1997

Special regions on Mars
Recurring slope lineae

Special regions on Mars
Recurring slope lineae
Terrestrial life might survive
What minimum temperature?
Current definition - 25°C

… what about humans on Mars ?
Catharine A. Conley
NASA planetary protection officer
"a race against time"

Alberto G. Fairen, Department of Astronomy, Cornell
University. Credit: Cornell University

NATURE GEOSCIENCE | VOL 6 | JULY 2013 |

New Scientist editorial July 2013
“ Is there a case for relaxing the rules? Perhaps. If Mars has
its own life, it should be different enough from Earth life for us
to recognise it. If it doesn't, any bugs we find will be
recognisably terrestrial. In either case, Earth life will struggle to
colonise Mars. Recent arrivals are unlikely to thrive in the harsh
conditions, and the possibility of them outcompeting any
natives is about as likely as parrots colonising Antarctica and
ousting the penguins ….

New Scientist editorial July 2013
But …
“ If a spacecraft crashed or melted through Europa's shell
into the ocean beneath, it could have fatal consequences for
everything living there. The only thing worse than not finding
life – if it is there – would be finding it after we've destroyed it.”

Committee On Space Research (COSPAR)
Expanding the knowledge frontier of space
for the benefit of humankind
created 1958

Article IX of the 1967 Outer Space Treaty
“… parties to the Treaty shall pursue studies of outer space
including the Moon and other celestial bodies, and conduct
exploration of them so as to avoid their harmful
contamination and also adverse changes in the environment
of the Earth resulting from the introduction of extraterrestrial
matter and, where necessary, shall adopt appropriate
measures for this purpose …”

Grand Canyon : US National Park + UNESCO World Heritage Site

Cape St Vincent, one of the cliffs of Victoria crater, Mars

COSPAR says …
– life, including extra-terrestrial life, has special ethical status
and deserves appropriate respect because it has both intrinsic
and instrumental values
and
– non-living things, including extraterrestrial things, likewise
have value and deserve respect appropriate to their
instrumental, aesthetic or other value to human or
extraterrestrial life.
Why do we protect? What do we protect?
p24 of COSPAR Workshop on Ethical Considerations
for Planetary Protection in Space Exploration, 2010

Terraforming

Terraforming
Why do we value Mars?
• as a park ?
• as a lab ?
• a location for a new society ?
• a source of minerals ?
• an enterprise zone ?
• a lifeboat ?

Terraforming
What is our ethical obligation?
1. To preserve Mars to same degree we
seek to protect Earth’s environment?
2. To keep it pristine? Why?
3. What if there is no life on Mars?

Terraforming
What is our ethical obligation?
1. To preserve Mars to same degree we
seek to protect Earth’s environment?
2. To keep it pristine? Why?
3. What if there is no life on Mars?
OR
4. To expand terrestrial life onto Mars?
5. Even if it already has life?

Mars One

Mars One
o first human mission 2024. One way only
o crowdfunding project, under private sponsorship
o videos of their daily lives to a TV channel on earth
o Interplanetary Media Group owns all intellectual
property, images, data
o Bas Lansdorp and Arno Wielders founders and chief
officers
o scientific & legal researchers and advisers recruited
worldwide

Mars One
”

Mars One
Dr Joseph Roche
“drastically curtailed”

Space archaeology
Buzz Aldrin salutes the
US flag, 1969 (Wikipedia)
Footprints in
foreground
How long will they last?

Space archaeology
Space archaeologist
Beth O'Leary
A national heritage site
protecting the Apollo
lunar landing site.

Space archaeology

Space archaeology
“ I am a believer that when
those first people went to
the moon they didn't just
represent America but
humanity as a whole.
Ultimately, the attempt to
preserve sites has to be
international. ”

1. Politics, funding, rivalry
2. Inspiring a new generation
3. Human scientists more responsive, intuitive
4. Important science in space?
5. ‘Because it is there’
6. Unifying project for humans, world peace
7. Manifest destiny
Humans in space

Humans in space
7. Manifest destiny
“ We have crossed all the mountains; we have
penetrated all the oceans. We have plumbed the
atmosphere to its height and the oceans to their
depths. Unless we are willing to settle down into a
world that is our prison, we must be ready to move
beyond Earth, and I think we are ready. We have the
technological capacity to do so; all that we need is the
will. ”
Isaac Asimov, Our Future in the Cosmos (1983)

Humans in space
(8) Preserving the human species
(9) Back-up biosphere
(10) Stewardship model

Humans in space
(8) Preserving the human species
The Hawking justification
“We must also continue to go into space for the
future of humanity," he said. "I don't think we will
survive another thousand years without escaping
beyond our fragile planet."
The Guardian, Tuesday 12 November 2013

Humans in space
(10) Stewardship model
Prudent use of space resources ...
may explore …
… or should explore ??
… but not exploit. Our actions judged by their impact
on others, on the universe, and on the future.

Invasive science
Deep Impact
Comet Tempel
2005

Invasive science
NASA to capture
an asteroid, tow
it to lunar orbit
September 2013

The
Environmentalist’s
Paradox

What I’ve left out
• Weaponisation of space

• Planetary protection and law – COSPAR
• What do we protect? Why?
• … life? landscape? archaeology?
• “The Overprotection of Mars”
• Terraforming – good, bad, obligatory, unavoidable?
• Mining asteroids and the Moon – will law matter?
• Invasive science
• Mars One – human rights?
• Colonising the universe – why?
• Weaponisation of space
Summary

• Space ethics website
http://spaceexploreethics.blogspot.ie/
• Blog (“Things that have interested me”)
http://peterhousehold.blogspot.com/
• Facebook https://www.facebook.com/peter.household
• Twitter @peterhousehold
• Email peterhousehold@gmail.com
• Mobile 085-7082228
Contacting me

Ethics of space exploration lecture

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