Criticism of space exploration

File:Hannah Arendt auf dem 1. Kulturkritikerkongress, Barbara Niggl Radloff, FM-2019-1-5-9-16 (cropped).jpg (pictured) argued against space exploration in the early stages of the Apollo program.]]

In 1963, years before the 1969 Apollo 11 Moon landing, German-American critical theorist Hannah Arendt argued:{{cite web | title=The Conquest of Space and the Stature of Man | website=The New Atlantis | date=2020-09-26 | url=https://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/the-conquest-of-space-and-the-stature-of-man | access-date=2023-08-02}}

{{blockquote|The conquest of space and the science that made it possible have come perilously close to this point. If they ever should reach it in earnest, the stature of man would not simply be lowered by all standards we know of but have been destroyed.}}

Throughout the 1960s, Students for a Democratic Society organized anti-NASA protests on college campuses. Sit-ins occurred at Columbia University's Pupin Physics Laboratories and MIT's Instrumentation Laboratory, as both conducted NASA research which was implemented by the United States military in Vietnam.{{Cite news |title=Opinion {{!}} Not Everyone Wanted a Man on the Moon (Published 2019) |author= |work=The New York Times |date= 16 July 2019|access-date=12 February 2023 |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/16/opinion/apollo-11-nasa-woodstock.html|last1= Maher|first1= Neil M.}} In July 1969, civil rights leader Ralph Abernathy organized a protest at Cape Canaveral (then Cape Kennedy) to oppose the "inhuman priority" of space exploration over tackling poverty and racism.{{cite web | last=Smith | first=David | title='Whitey's on the moon': why Apollo 11 looked so different to black America | website=the Guardian | date=2019-07-14 | url=http://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/jul/14/apollo-11-civil-rights-black-america-moon | access-date=2023-08-02}} When addressing a white suburban audience filled with space and electronic experts, Unitarian Church Rev. David Eaton, said that "[t]he $23 billion we've spent going to the Moon has stolen money the black man needs for job retraining and schools."{{cite web | last=Robertson | first=Jack | title=Space Is Not Black | website=The Nation | date=1969-06-30 | url=https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/archives-space-is-not-black/ | access-date=2023-08-02}}

Amitai Etzioni wrote in 2018 that space colonization "brings with it an unavoidable subtext of despair", distracting from efforts to halt anthropogenic climate change, arguing that "any serious Mars endeavor will inevitably cut into the drive to save Mother Earth".{{Cite web |title=Humanity Would Be Better off Saving Earth, Rather Than Colonizing Mars |author= |work=The National Interest |date= 25 August 2018|access-date=12 February 2023 |url= https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/humanity-would-be-better-saving-earth-rather-colonizing-mars-29712}} Some studies suggest that the projected increase in space travel will damage the ozone layer.{{cite magazine | last=Kluger | first=Jeffrey | title=There's No Way to Make Space Travel Good for Planet Earth Right Now | magazine=Time | date=2023-04-19 | url=https://time.com/6273065/space-travel-climate-impact/ | access-date=2023-08-03}}{{cite web | last=Kiest | first=Kristina | title=Projected increase in space travel may damage ozone layer | website=NOAA Research | date=2022-06-21 | url=https://research.noaa.gov/2022/06/21/projected-increase-in-space-travel-may-damage-ozone-layer/ | access-date=2023-08-03}} A single rocket launch produces 300 tonnes of carbon dioxide, staying longer in the upper atmosphere than emissions caused by airplanes or jets.{{cite web | last=Gammon | first=Katharine | title=How the billionaire space race could be one giant leap for pollution | website=the Guardian | date=2021-07-19 | url=http://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/jul/19/billionaires-space-tourism-environment-emissions | access-date=2023-08-03}} Thomas Fink, however, argues the long-term benefits of space science offset the ecological risks.{{Cite web |title=Space Exploration: Are the Benefits Worth the Ecological Cost? {{!}} Vision 2045 |author= |work=vision2045.com |date= |access-date=12 February 2023 |url= https://vision2045.com/space-exploration-are-the-benefits-worth-the-ecological-cost/}}

Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. condemned space exploration, labeling it as wasteful.{{Cite news |last=McDowell |first=Edwin |date=April 19, 1970 |title=Is Man Justified In Exploring Space When Earthly Problems Beset Him? |work=The Arizona Republic}} In the lead up to the Apollo program, Congressmen voiced doubts about the costliness of the missions.{{Cite journal |last=Reichstein |first=Andreas |title=Space—the Last Cold War Frontier? |journal=Amerikastudien / American Studies |publisher=Universitätsverlag Winter |pages=113–36}} In 1977, Governor of California Jerry Brown was criticized for prioritizing space programs over addressing social issues.{{Cite news |last=Barney |first=Walter |date=August 11, 1977 |title=Brown wants California to help develop satellite |work=The San Francisco Examiner}}

Alexis C. Madrigal, writing in the Los Angeles Sentinel in 2012, said that{{Cite web |title=Moondoggle: The Forgotten Opposition to the Apollo Program |last=Madrigal |first=Alexis C. |work=The Atlantic |date= 12 September 2012|access-date=12 February 2023 |url= https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/09/moondoggle-the-forgotten-opposition-to-the-apollo-program/262254/}}

{{blockquote|It would appear that the fathers of our nation would allow a few thousand hungry people to die for the lack of a few thousand dollars while they would contaminate the moon and its sterility for the sake of 'progress' and spend billions of dollars in the process, while people are hungry, ill-clothed, poorly educated (if at all).}}

Haris Durrani, writing in The Nation, argued in 2019 that "[s]paceflight almost invariably involves activities that directly subjugate marginalized peoples".{{Cite magazine |title=Is Spaceflight Colonialism? |author= |magazine=The Nation |date= 19 July 2019|access-date=12 February 2023 |url= https://www.thenation.com/article/world/apollo-space-lunar-rockets-colonialism/|last1= Durrani|first1= Haris}}{{which?|date=November 2023}} Mark R. Royce, writing for Providence magazine, argued in 2020 that rather than being a non-partisan, inoffensive, and humanistic endeavor, space exploration is "largely irrational, originating at the intersection of the early Cold War arms race, the mass hysteria of the Red Scare, and the utopian worship of technical progress that characterized the mid-twentieth century."{{Cite web |title=The Political Theology of Space Exploration: Between Anarchy, State, and Utopia |author= |work=Providence |date= 25 August 2020|access-date=12 February 2023 |url= https://providencemag.com/2020/08/political-theology-space-exploration-anarchy-state-utopia-nasa/}} Gabrielle Cornish argued in 2019 that the moon landing was "at its core, a territorial conquest" in the context of the Cold War.{{Cite news |title=Perspective {{!}} How imperialism shaped the race to the moon |author= |newspaper=Washington Post |date= |access-date=12 February 2023 |url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2019/07/22/how-imperialism-shaped-race-moon/}}

Several critics have likened space exploration to settler-colonialism and imperialism,{{Cite web |title=The racist language of space exploration |author= |work=The Outline |date= |access-date=12 February 2023 |url= https://theoutline.com/post/5809/the-racist-language-of-space-exploration}}{{Cite web |title=We need to change the way we talk about space exploration |author= |work=Science |date= 9 November 2018|access-date=12 February 2023 |url= https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/we-need-to-change-way-we-talk-about-space-exploration-mars|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210304035334/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/we-need-to-change-way-we-talk-about-space-exploration-mars|url-status= dead|archive-date= March 4, 2021}} with critics such as Deondre Smiles arguing that the exploration of space could lead to further colonization on Earth, pointing to the controversial construction of observatories in Mauna Kea.{{Cite web |last=Smiles |first=Deondre |date=2020-10-26 |title=The Settler Logics of (Outer) Space |url=https://www.societyandspace.org/articles/the-settler-logics-of-outer-space |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240923133428/https://www.societyandspace.org/articles/the-settler-logics-of-outer-space |archive-date=2024-09-23 |access-date=2024-10-07 |website=www.societyandspace.org}} Sociologist Zuleyka Zevallos at Swinburne University has criticized the language used within and around space science, writing that "there is no democratic way to colonize other lands" and that "It is about profit, and profit always marginalizes minorities". In contrast, Robert Zubrin of the Mars Society responds that it is different from comparing the history of colonialism on Earth with the establishment of colonies on Mars.{{Cite web |title=Should We Colonize Space or Decolonize It? |author= |work=Newsweek |date= 25 May 2018|access-date=12 February 2023 |url= https://www.newsweek.com/should-we-colonize-space-some-people-argue-we-need-decolonize-it-instead-945130}}{{Cite web |last=Zubrin |first=Robert |date=2020-11-14 |title=Wokeists Assault Space Exploration |url=https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/11/wokeists-assault-space-exploration/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201114122009/https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/11/wokeists-assault-space-exploration/ |archive-date=2020-11-14 |access-date=2024-10-07 |website=National Review |language=en-US|url-access=subscription}}{{Cite web |last1=Schwartz |first1=James S.J. |last2=Milligan |first2=Tony |date=2021-02-01 |title=The Space Review: "Space ethics" according to space ethicists |url=https://www.thespacereview.com/article/4117/1 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240423205657/https://www.thespacereview.com/article/4117/1 |archive-date=2024-04-23 |access-date=2024-10-07 |website=www.thespacereview.com}}

Fulbright scholar and Mars colonization advocate Zahaan Bharmal outlined three hypothetical arguments against human colonization of Mars: (1) that humans will contaminate Mars, (2) that robots have inherent advantages over humans in space exploration, and (3) that issues like climate change, overpopulation, and nuclear war should be prioritized over colonization. While broadly supportive of Mars colonization, Bharmal argues that humans "are perhaps not ready to go to Mars."{{Cite news |title=The case against Mars colonisation |author= |work=the Guardian |date= 28 August 2018|access-date=12 February 2023 |url= https://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2018/aug/28/the-case-against-mars-colonisation|last1= Bharmal|first1= Zahaan}}

Contrary to the common misconception that the American space program in the 60s had a wide base of support, unifying America, belief that the Apollo program was worth the time and money invested peaked at 51% for a few months after the 1969 Moon landing, and was otherwise fluctuating between 35-45%.{{Cite news |last=Novak |first=Matt |date=May 15, 2012 |title=How Space-Age Nostalgia Hobbles Our Future |url=https://slate.com/technology/2012/05/space-program-s-future-and-landing-on-the-moon-how-nostalgia-for-the-apollo-program-doesn-t-help.html |access-date=June 26, 2024 |work=Slate}}{{Cite news |last=Saripalli |first=Srikanth |date=September 19, 2013 |title=To Boldly Go Nowhere, for Now |url=https://slate.com/technology/2013/09/manned-space-exploration-cyborgs-and-finding-the-next-earth.html |access-date=June 26, 2024 |work=Slate}}{{Cite news |last=Strauss |first=Mark |date=April 14, 2011 |title=Ten Enduring Myths About the U.S. Space Program |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/ten-enduring-myths-about-the-us-space-program-1969206/ |access-date=June 26, 2024 |work=Smithsonian}}

• Criticism of science

{{reflist}}

• {{cite journal | last=Westfahl | first=Gary | title=The Case against Space | journal=Science Fiction Studies | publisher=SF-TH Inc | volume=24 | issue=2 | year=1997 | issn=0091-7729| jstor=4240602 | pages=193–206 | url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/4240602 | access-date=2023-02-12}}
• {{cite journal | last=Marshall | first=Alan | title=Development and imperialism in space | journal=Space Policy | publisher=Elsevier BV | volume=11 | issue=1 | year=1995 | issn=0265-9646 | doi=10.1016/0265-9646(95)93233-b | pages=41–52| bibcode=1995SpPol..11...41M }}
• {{cite journal | last=Vernikos | first=J | title=Human Exploration of Space: why, where, what for? | journal=Hippokratia | volume=12 | issue=Suppl 1 | date=1961-04-12 | pages=6–9 | pmid=19048086 | pmc=2577404 }}

Category:Space exploration