An obligation to colonize outer space
by Zlatan Bisercic - November 2, 2023
Source: Wikipedia
Abstract: Colonizing outer space will prevent great cosmic catastrophes, eventually human extinction, while offering great advantages to humanity. I include establishing bases on the Moon, Mars, and other bodies in the solar system, perhaps terraforming some of them, as well as building the sorts of space colonies championed by Gerard O’Neill. This will bring clean energy to Earth and give us access to the resources of the solar system, while increasing our scientific knowledge of heaven and Earth. The harm this approach will prevent and the benefits it offers create a moral obligation to colonize space.
This section aims to present interesting, and/or important scientific papers in the sphere of space industry. Here is a short scientific paper from 2019, more of a discussion than research. Titled “An Obligation to Colonize Outer Space” by Gonzalo Munevar, it is short, concise, and to the point.
The author stresses the obligation to colonize outer space from the very beginning, with a strong first sentence – “We have an obligation to colonize outer space.” He then continues stressing the benefits that we would get from space colonization such as the possibility of terraforming some of the celestial bodies (Moon, Mars, etc.), saving humanity from a collision with asteroids, bringing clean energy to Earth (solar power), gaining access to the resources of the solar system, moving polluting industries into space, and increasing knowledge of the universe which would then permit a wiser approach to our planet. Not getting into details with any of the aforementioned benefits except for the asteroid bringing utter destruction to our home planet, the author is stressing the fact that the sun will become a red giant in 4 or 5 million years and that the Earth will become inhospitable long before then. A connection is made between our moral obligation to colonize outer space and the need to preserve not just ourselves, but also the life that originated on Earth. A valid point.
Explaining the likelihood of collisions with comets and asteroids, the author is mentioning the asteroid belt, the Kuiper belt, and the Oort cloud as generators of future threats to our home planet. He then brings us back to the past when Earth has been hit a lot, emphasizing the big asteroids, the most famous being the one that killed off the dinosaurs and paved the path to our ascension. Now called the Alvarez asteroid, it was 10km in diameter, a planet killer. Space colonization will surely boost our preparedness levels for this type of catastrophe, possibly even boosting our technology levels. According to this author, the 60m diameter asteroids with a 1.2km crater on impact will hit the Earth every 100 000 years on average. An asteroid bringing global catastrophe on the other hand will happen every 300 000 years. These asteroids have a diameter of approximately 1.7km.
Wrapping up with an overview of scientific data confirming these calculations, and stressing the danger that Rogue planets can pose to our home world, the author concludes that – “There can hardly be a better reason than the preservation of life, and perhaps the survival of the species, to establish the importance of colonizing space.” I can not agree more with this.
Near the end, the author mentions some of the criticism of colonizing the space, such as – “We have no obligations to human beings who are not even born.” This sentence is so wrong, on so many levels. I am pretty sure that philosophers who wrote/said it go around throwing trash on the street. For the very end, the author is stressing that, even though space colonization is important, it has to be done carefully, bearing in mind possible traces of life on Mars or other celestial bodies.
Although this paper is missing technical details, it is, as I said in the beginning, a discussion, and a very important one. The article is trying to present the colonization of space as a need more than a “cool” endeavor, which it certainly is.
I will leave you with the words of H.G. Wells, same as the author of this paper. “Our choice is the universe or nothing”.
Keep looking up and see you next time!