Space Should Be a Safe Place
Revel in the Beauty of the Cosmos
Space should be a safe space for humanity. A place for exploration and wonder. The recent Artemis II mission to beyond the moon and back reminded us of this. The photos that mission produced, ones of our beautiful earth, the magnificent desolation of our moon, of earth rise in the moon’s shadow that recalled the famous shot from Apollo 8 in 1968: they remind us of the splendor of the heavens. They inspire us, they move us, they humble us.
Earthrise from Apollo 8 in 1968.
America needs to recover its dream for space, its thirst for knowledge, its drive to boldly go and to explore. Instead, the Trump administration seeks to militarize space further. Nightmares of danger and of dominance drive America now. Surveillance satellites invade privacy further. Weapons are led to their targets, often innocents, by GPS. A veneer of precision masks the agony of children killed for “greater” Israel or to make America “great again.”
Wars don’t make one great, as Yoda the Jedi Master reminded us. Weapons in space are escalatory and stupid. “I’m impatient with stupidity,” the alien emissary Klaatu said as he visited our planet in “The Day the Earth Stood Still” (1951). I’m in total agreement with Klaatu.
Stupidity is represented by Donald Trump’s “Golden Dome” project. It will never work to shield America from a concerted enemy attack consisting of missiles with multiple nuclear warheads. What it represents instead is a giant boondoggle for weapons makers and a further militarization and weaponization of space itself.
I was six years old when astronauts first walked on the moon. I had a poster on my bedroom wall illustrating the Apollo mission, featuring its orbital trajectories along with diagrams of space suits and similar equipment. That was what inspired me to want to join Air Force Space Command in 1985, not images of satellites being shattered by ASAT missiles. Not violence in or from space.
Humanity’s “childish jealousies” and “petty squabbles” (the words are Klaatu’s) are being exported into space. The narcissism of men like Trump and Elon Musk, as well as their greed, is making space an increasingly unsafe space for humanity. The Age of Aquarius is increasingly the Age of Starship Troopers. Of “warriors” and “warfighters” in space, contesting over the new high ground.
Perhaps, as the tagline from the movie “Alien” had it, in space “no one can hear you scream.” But unless we reverse the arrant stupidity of our militarized space policies and our love of violence and war, we will most certainly hear the screams here on earth.
My fellow Americans, my fellow space lovers, let’s make space a safe space for all humanity. Revel not in violence but in the beauty of our cosmos.
*A version of this essay appears in the latest Space Alert! newsletter.
As many here, I suspect, did - I grew up with the Mercury/Gemini/Apollo programs. Watched all the launches; was thrilled by Earth Rise on Apollo 8; and was glued to the television during Apollo 11. I even got an engineering degree based on that interest. Even learning later that JFK's pronouncement on putting a (US) man on the moon by 1969 was political rather than aspirational, it didn't change those memories.
But now, we've gone from all that to the real life incarnations of Weyland Corporation (Alien); space to be used for personal gain and exploitation - and control. How long before the trillionaires begin creating the Mars colonies as "Earth is doomed". All their wealth could significantly help address many of Earth's problems - climate, energy, and food. But they want to take their riches and leave. And there are already over 44,000 satellites and other objects in space; how much more junk needs to be put up there?
The robotic missions and deep-space telescopes continue to amaze with all that's out there. We can do those - and inspire future generations, but humanity should create a world worth living for everyone before letting the trillionaires and their acolytes steal the agenda with claims intended to benefit only them.
I echo your desire for the safe space, in space and here on earth. Unfortunately, the chokehold by monied interests on most every aspect of legislative remedy and organizing potential mean that the slap in the face from chaos, whether driven by climate disaster, nuclear Armageddon, mass migration, or some combination, might be the only thing that can save us.