Is space travel worth it?

I recently posted on Facebook about my wariness concerning space travel and colonization, and I wanted to expand on some of my thoughts in that post here.

My partner and I started watching For All Mankind on Apple TV+. I just finished the second season, so no spoilers please. Anyway, if you aren’t familiar, the premise of the show is an alternate history where the Soviet Union makes it to the moon first and the U.S. ups the ante by being the first to put a base on the moon. I have found myself really enjoying this show despite myself—it does some interesting re-imagining of history (while also, unfortunately, replicating some of the same issues that we currently have…so it’s not completely fiction).

For All Mankind has me thinking about the moon and how, it seems, that there is a renewed interest in space travel. Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and Richard Branson (and probably others that I am unaware of) have invested some of their funds in the creation of space craft. It used to be that NASA (an U.S. government agency) was the sole arbiter and innovator of anything related to space. The emergence of billionaires and private companies in the space arena has changed the conversation around space travel.

I don’t pretend to know all of the nuances of this conversation, but I’ve consistently heard the argument that the involvement of private companies in space travel opens up the door for innovation in space travel because these companies aren’t beholden to government regulations nor are they dependent upon government funding. The lack of government oversight also raises questions about the safety of the spacecraft that these private companies create because they are, ultimately, out to monetize and profit from space travel and from any resulting discoveries, resources, or innovations.

I am all for scientific progress because I believe that such advancements can contribute to the betterment of society. I am also extremely wary of private corporations and rich people exploiting innovation so that they can line their pockets. I am also wary of governments and powers using scientific innovation to advance agendas that are contrary to the flourishing of all beings and the worlds they inhabit.

Oftentimes, we talk about scientific progress in terms of its benefits, but we rarely take a hard look at the cost beyond Dollars (and Euros, and Yen, and Rubles, etc.). Behind every innovation is the potential for humans and other beings to be exploited, resources to be depleted, and harm to be done to the physical universe and all its inhabitants. I don’t trust billionaires, whose wealth was built through exploitation, nor governments, who gained and maintain their power through violence and harm, to make decisions that are in everyone’s best interest. How many people will be exploited and harmed in the interest of space travel? How many will lose their lives?

I question whether we, as a society, have weighed the implications of building on the moon, on space tourism, and everything else that comes with humans placing ourselves (and our equipment) into new environments and ecosystems. What does it mean for humans to step into a place where no human has ever been on another planet or celestial body?

By placing ourselves into these new environments, we are also fundamentally changing those environments. Our technologies, carbon emissions, and industry have not changed the earth for the better. Indeed, these things are killing our planet, and will eventually annihilate humans if we aren’t careful. If we can’t stop killing our own planet, what right do we have to impinge upon another?

I want to acknowledge that space travel also produces scientific innovation, and that any technologies developed to make long-term habitation of the moon and the planets possible could also help us fix, if not save, earth. At the same time, I don’t know that the hope of innovation should outweigh concerns about the impact of space travel on humans who may never leave the earth.