Social Foundations Of Human Space Exploration

This title presents a uniquely human perspective on the quest to explore space and to understand the universe through the lens of the arts, humanities, and social sciences. It considers early stories about the universe in various cultures; recent space fiction; the origins and cultural rationale for the space age; experiences of humans in space and their emerging interactions with robots and artificial intelligence; how humans should treat environments and alien life; and the alternative futures of space exploration and settlement.

This title presents a uniquely human perspective on the quest to explore space and to understand the universe through the lens of the arts, humanities, and social sciences. It considers early stories about the universe in various cultures; recent space fiction; the origins and cultural rationale for the space age; experiences of humans in space and their emerging interactions with robots and artificial intelligence; how humans should treat environments and alien life; and the alternative futures of space exploration and settlement.

The United States has publicly funded its human spaceflight program on a continuous basis for more than a half-century, through three wars and a half-dozen recessions, from the early Mercury and Gemini suborbital and Earth orbital missions, to the lunar landings, and thence to the first reusable winged crewed spaceplane that the United States operated for three decades. Today the United States is the major partner in a massive orbital facility - the International Space Station - that is becoming the focal point for the first tentative steps in commercial cargo and crewed orbital space flights. And yet, the long-term future of human spaceflight beyond this project is unclear. Pronouncements by multiple presidents of bold new ventures by Americans to the Moon, to Mars, and to an asteroid in its native orbit, have not been matched by the same commitment that accompanied President Kennedy\'s now fabled 1961 speech-namely, the substantial increase in NASA funding needed to make it happen. Are we still committed to advancing human spaceflight? What should a long-term goal be, and what does the United States need to do to achieve it? Pathways to Exploration explores the case for advancing this endeavor, drawing on the history of rationales for human spaceflight, examining the attitudes of stakeholders and the public, and carefully assessing the technical and fiscal realities. This report recommends maintaining the long-term focus on Mars as the horizon goal for human space exploration. With this goal in mind, the report considers funding levels necessary to maintain a robust tempo of execution, current research and exploration projects and the time/resources needed to continue them, and international cooperation that could contribute to the achievement of spaceflight to Mars. According to Pathways to Exploration, a successful U.S. program would require sustained national commitment and a budget that increases by more than the rate of inflation. In reviving a U.S. human exploration program capable of answering the enduring questions about humanity's destiny beyond our tiny blue planet, the nation will need to grapple with the attitudinal and fiscal realities of the nation today while staying true to a small but crucial set of fundamental principles for the conduct of exploration of the endless frontier. The recommendations of Pathways to Exploration provide a clear map toward a human spaceflight program that inspires students and citizens by furthering human exploration and discovery, while taking into account the long-term commitment necessary to achieve this goal.

Following the first comprehensive transdisciplinary dialogue on humans in outer space which resulted in "Humans in Outer Space - Interdisciplinary Odysseys", the European Science Foundation (ESF), the European Space Agency (ESA), and the European Space Policy Institute (ESPI) have continued and deepened this transdisciplinary dialogue, which can now be found in Humans in Outer Space - Interdisciplinary Perspectives. Going further than regarding humans as better-than-robot tools for exploration, it investigates the human quest for odysseys beyond Earth's atmosphere and reflects on arising issues related to Europe's role among the States conducting human exploration. It provides perspectives related to governance, management of space exploration, space settlements, the role of astronauts in the future as well as related to the encounter of extraterrestrial life.

Human migration to space will be the most profound catalyst for evolution in the history of humankind, yet this has had little impact on determining our strategies for this next phase of exploration. Habitation in space will require extensive technological interfaces between humans and their alien surroundings and how they are deployed will critically inform the processes of adaptation. As humans begin to spend longer durations in space—eventually establishing permanent outposts on other planets—the scope of technological design considerations must expand beyond the meager requirements for survival to include issues not only of comfort and well‐being, but also of engagement and negotiation with the new planetary environment that will be crucial to our longevity beyond Earth. Approaching this question from an interdisciplinary approach, this dissertation explores how the impact of interior space architecture can meet both the physical and psychological needs of future space colonists and set the stage for humankind to thrive and grow while setting down new roots beyond Earth.

This book is an argument for moving beyond culturally/historically/ethnically/biologically-grounded identity as the necessary foundation of an authentic self. It highlights examples of people who are attempting to inhabit identities they feel are more appropriate to themselves, by deploring the damage done via claims about authentic identity. The sole theme of this book is “becoming beyond identity”. We are not fixed human beings but rather perpetually-dynamic human becomings. As intelligence is enabled or recognized beyond the merely human, we should welcome our continuing evolution from homosapiens, sapiens, into many varieties of intelligences on Earth and the cosmos. This book builds from tiny ripples into a tsunami of examples from conventional identity studies, to Confucian human becomings, to apotemnophilia, to DIY biohacking, to cyborgs, to artilects, to hiveminds, to intelligence in animals, plants and fungi from the Holocene through the beginnings of the precarious, climate change-driven Anthropocene Epoch, with hints far beyond and throughout the cosmos. From a lifetime of work in future studies, anticipation science and space studies, the author balances frank tales of his own experiences and beliefs concerning his uncertain and fluid identities with those of others who tell their stories. In addition to material from academic and popular sources, a few poems further illuminate the scene.

This seminal monograph provides the essential guidance that we need to act as responsible ecological citizens while we expand our reach beyond Earth. The emergence of numerous national space programs along with several potent commercial presences prompts our attention to urgent environmental issues like what to do with the large mass of debris that orbits Earth, potential best practices for mining our moon, how to appropriately search for microscopic life, or whether to alter the ecology of Mars to suit humans better. This book not only examines the science and morals behind these potential ecological pitfall scenarios beyond Earth, it also provides groundbreaking policy responses founded upon ethics. These effective solutions come from a critical reframing for scientific settings of the unique moral voices of diverse Buddhists from the American ethnographic field, who together delineate sophisticated yet practical values for traveling through our solar system. Along the way, Buddhists fascinatingly supply robust environmental lessons for Earth, too. As much a work of astrobiology as it is one of religious studies, this book should appeal to anyone who is interested in space travel, our human environment in large scale, or spiritual ecology.

This companion investigates the ways in which designers, architects, and planners address ecology through the built environment by integrating ecological ideas and ecological thinking into discussions of urbanism, society, culture, and design. Exploring the innovation of materials, habitats, landscapes, and infrastructures, it furthers novel ecotopian ideas and ways of living, including human-made settings on water, in outer space, and in extreme environments and climatic conditions. Chapters of this extensive collection on ecotopian design are grouped under five different ecological perspectives: design manifestos and ecological theories, anthropocentric transformative design concepts, design connectivity, climatic design, and social design. Contributors provide plausible, sustainable design ideas that promote resiliency, health, and well-being for all living things, while taking our changing lifestyles into consideration. This volume encourages creative thinking in the face of ongoing environmental damage, with a view to making design decisions in the interest of the planet and its inhabitants. With contributions from over 79 expert practitioners, educators, scientists, researchers, and theoreticians, as well as planners, architects, and engineers from the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Asia, this book engages theory, history, technology, engineering, and science, as well as the human aspects of ecotopian design thinking and its implications for the outlook of the planet.