Editing Space colonization (section)

=== Opposition ===
Space colonization has been seen as a relief to the problem of [[human overpopulation]] as early as 1758,<ref name = tsr2009>{{cite news|url=https://www.thespacereview.com/article/1296/1 |title=Planetary demographics and space colonization |first=Nader |last=Elhefnawy |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160513062857/http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1296/1 |archive-date=13 May 2016 |publisher=The Space Review |date=2 February 2009}}</ref><!--would be best if the original article that Otto Diederich Lutken published were put here--> and listed as one of Stephen Hawking's reasons for pursuing space exploration.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/space/7935505/Stephen-Hawking-mankind-must-move-to-outer-space-within-a-century.html|title=Stephen Hawking: mankind must move to outer space within a century|date=9 August 2010 |last1=Alleyne |first1=Richard |access-date=5 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180423144633/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/space/7935505/Stephen-Hawking-mankind-must-move-to-outer-space-within-a-century.html|archive-date=23 April 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref> Critics note, however, that a slowdown in population growth rates since the 1980s has alleviated the risk of overpopulation.<ref name = tsr2009/>

Critics also argue that the costs of commercial activity in space are too high to be profitable against Earth-based industries, and hence that it is unlikely to see significant exploitation of space resources in the foreseeable future.<ref name="Marshall">
{{cite journal |last=Marshall |first=P. |year=1981 |title=Nicole Oresme on the Nature, Reflection, and Speed of Light |journal=[[Isis (journal)|Isis]] |volume=72 |issue=3 |pages=357–374 [367–374] |doi=10.1086/352787 |s2cid=144035661}}</ref>

Other objections include concerns that the forthcoming colonization and [[commodification]] of the cosmos is likely to enhance the interests of the already powerful, including major economic and military institutions e.g. the large financial institutions, the major aerospace companies and the [[military–industrial complex]], to lead to new [[war]]s, and to exacerbate pre-existing exploitation of [[Exploitation of labour|workers]] and [[Exploitation of natural resources|resources]], [[economic inequality]], [[poverty]], [[social division]] and [[Social exclusion|marginalization]], environmental degradation, and other detrimental processes or institutions.<ref name="Dickens-MR-2010-11" /><ref name="Dickens-MR-2008-02">{{cite web |last=Dickens |first=Peter |date=1 February 2008 |url=https://monthlyreview.org/2008/02/01/who-really-won-the-space-race/ |title=Who Really Won the Space Race? |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161003104456/http://monthlyreview.org/2008/02/01/who-really-won-the-space-race/|archive-date=3 October 2016 |website=Monthly Review|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Dickens-MR-2017-03">{{cite web |last=Dickens |first=Pet|date=1 March 2017 |url=https://monthlyreview.org/2017/03/01/astronauts-at-work/ |title=Astronauts at Work: The Social Relations of Space Travel |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170328200150/https://monthlyreview.org/2017/03/01/astronauts-at-work/|archive-date=28 March 2017 |website=Monthly Review|url-status=live}}</ref>

Additional concerns include creating a culture in which humans are no longer seen as human, but rather as material assets. The issues of [[human dignity]], [[morality]], [[philosophy]], [[culture]], [[bioethics]], and the threat of megalomaniac leaders in these new "societies" would all have to be addressed in order for space colonization to meet the [[psychological]] and [[Group (sociology)|social]] needs of people living in isolated colonies.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://er.jsc.nasa.gov/seh/sociology.html |title=Sociology and Space Development |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080628172018/http://er.jsc.nasa.gov/seh/sociology.html|archive-date=28 June 2008 |first=B. J. |last=Bluth |website=California State University Northridge}}</ref>

As an alternative or addendum for the future of the human race, many science fiction writers have focused on the realm of the 'inner-space', that is the computer-aided exploration of the [[human mind]] and human [[consciousness]]—possibly en route developmentally to a [[Matrioshka Brain]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://curiosity.com/topics/a-matrioshka-brain-is-a-computer-the-size-of-a-solar-system-curiosity/|title=A Matrioshka Brain Is A Computer The Size of a Solar System|website=curiosity.com|access-date=14 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180814040151/https://curiosity.com/topics/a-matrioshka-brain-is-a-computer-the-size-of-a-solar-system-curiosity/|archive-date=14 August 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Robotic spacecraft]] are proposed as an alternative to gain many of the same scientific advantages without the limited mission duration and high cost of life support and return transportation involved in human missions.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/report/robotic-planetary-exploration/|title=Robotic Exploration of the Solar System|work=Scientific American|access-date=14 August 2018|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180814040634/https://www.scientificamerican.com/report/robotic-planetary-exploration/|archive-date=14 August 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref>

A corollary to the [[Fermi paradox]]—"nobody else is doing it"<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2018/06/26/no-we-cannot-know-whether-humans-are-alone-in-the-universe/|title=No, We Haven't Solved The Drake Equation, The Fermi Paradox, Or Whether Humans Are Alone|last=Siegel|first=Ethan|work=Forbes|access-date=14 August 2018|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180814041251/https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2018/06/26/no-we-cannot-know-whether-humans-are-alone-in-the-universe/|archive-date=14 August 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>—is the argument that, because no evidence of [[Fermi paradox#Alien constructs|alien colonization technology]] exists, it is statistically unlikely to even be possible to use that same level of technology ourselves.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/why-aliens-have-not-contacted-humans-2015-9|title=The likeliest reasons why we haven't contacted aliens are deeply unsettling |first=Kelly |last=Dickerson|work=Business Insider|access-date=14 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180814040227/https://www.businessinsider.com/why-aliens-have-not-contacted-humans-2015-9|archive-date=14 August 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

====Colonialism====
{{See also|Manifest destiny|Space advocacy#Decolonizing space|Space ethics|Ethics of terraforming|Planetary chauvinism}}
[[File:Gemini5insignia.png|thumb|upright=0.6|[[Gemini 5]] mission badge (1965) connecting spaceflight to colonial endeavours<ref name="Roger Launiuss Blog 2011">{{cite web | author=[[Roger Launius|Launius, Roger]]| title=Reconsidering the Foundations of Human Spaceflight in the 1950s | website=Roger Launius's Blog | date=8 June 2011 | url=https://launiusr.wordpress.com/2011/06/08/reconsidering-the-foundations-of-human-spaceflight-in-the-1950s/ | access-date=6 September 2021}}</ref>]]

[[Image:NASA Artemis Gateway logo.png|thumb|upright=0.6|The logo and name of the [[Lunar Gateway]] references the [[St. Louis]] [[Gateway Arch]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.space.com/nasa-lunar-gateway-moon-station-logo.html|title=NASA Reveals New Gateway Logo for Artemis Lunar Orbit Way Station|website=Space.com|date=18 September 2019|access-date=28 June 2020|first=Robert Z. |last=Pearlman}}</ref> which some see as associating Mars with the [[American frontier]] and the ''[[manifest destiny]]'' mentality of [[Settler colonialism#Settler colonialism in the United States|American settler colonialism]].<ref name="NPR.org 2015">{{cite web | title=As Gateway Arch Turns 50, Its Message Gets Reframed |first=Camille |last=Phillips | website=NPR.org | date=28 October 2015 | url=https://www.npr.org/2015/10/28/452299164/as-gateway-arch-turns-50-its-message-gets-reframed | access-date=27 June 2022}}</ref>]]

Space colonization has been discussed as [[postcolonialism|postcolonial]]<ref name="Durrani 2019">{{cite magazine | last=Durrani | first=Haris | title=Is Spaceflight Colonialism? | website=The Nation | date=19 July 2019 | url=https://www.thenation.com/article/world/apollo-space-lunar-rockets-colonialism/ | access-date=2 October 2020}}</ref> continuation of [[imperialism]] and [[colonialism]],<ref>{{cite news |last=Cornish |first=Gabrielle |date=22 July 2019 |title=How imperialism shaped the race to the moon |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2019/07/22/how-imperialism-shaped-race-moon/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190723032005/https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2019/07/22/how-imperialism-shaped-race-moon/ |archive-date=23 July 2019 |access-date=19 September 2019 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Haskins"/><ref name="Drake2018"/><ref name="marshall"/> calling for [[decolonization]] instead of colonization.<ref name="Bartels 2018h"/><ref name="Drake2018"/> Critics argue that the present politico-legal regimes and their philosophic grounding, advantage imperialist development of space,<ref name="marshall">{{cite journal |doi=10.1016/0265-9646(95)93233-B |title=Development and imperialism in space |first=Alan |last=Marshall |date=February 1995 |journal=Space Policy |pages=41–52 |access-date=28 June 2020 |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/026596469593233B |volume=11|issue=1 |bibcode=1995SpPol..11...41M|url-access=subscription }}</ref> that key decisionmakers in space colonization are often wealthy elites affiliated with private corporations, and that space colonization would primarily appeal to their peers rather than ordinary citizens.<ref name="DNLee"/><ref>{{cite web|title=Against Mars-a-Lago: Why SpaceX's Mars colonization plan should terrify you|url=https://www.salon.com/2017/10/08/against-mars-a-lago-why-spacexs-mars-colonization-plan-should-terrify-you/|website=Salon.com|access-date=20 September 2019|date=8 October 2017|first=Keith A. |last=Spencer|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190919201220/https://www.salon.com/2017/10/08/against-mars-a-lago-why-spacexs-mars-colonization-plan-should-terrify-you/|archive-date=19 September 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> Furthermore, it is argued that there is a need for inclusive<ref>{{cite web |last=Zevallos |first=Zuleyka |date=26 March 2015 |title=Rethinking the Narrative of Mars Colonisation |url=https://othersociologist.com/2015/03/26/rethinking-the-narrative-of-mars-colonisation/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191211122431/https://othersociologist.com/2015/03/26/rethinking-the-narrative-of-mars-colonisation/ |archive-date=11 December 2019 |access-date=20 September 2019 |website=Other Sociologist |language=en}}</ref> and democratic participation and implementation of any space exploration, infrastructure or habitation.<ref name="Tavares Buckner Burton McKaig 2020">{{cite arXiv | last1=Tavares | first1=Frank | last2=Buckner | first2=Denise | last3=Burton | first3=Dana | last4=McKaig | first4=Jordan | last5=Prem | first5=Parvathy | last6=Ravanis | first6=Eleni | last7=Trevino | first7=Natalie | last8=Venkatesan | first8=Aparna | last9=Vance | first9=Steven D. | last10=Vidaurri | first10=Monica | last11=Walkowicz | first11=Lucianne | last12=Wilhelm | first12=Mary Beth | title=Ethical Exploration and the Role of Planetary Protection in Disrupting Colonial Practices | date=15 October 2020 | class=astro-ph.IM | eprint =2010.08344v2}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Spencer |first=Keith A. |date=2 May 2017 |title=Keep the Red Planet Red |url=https://www.jacobinmag.com/2017/02/mars-elon-musk-space-exploration-nasa-colonization |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191103165331/https://jacobinmag.com/2017/02/mars-elon-musk-space-exploration-nasa-colonization |archive-date=3 November 2019 |access-date=20 September 2019 |website=[[Jacobin (magazine)|Jacobin]] |language=en}}</ref> According to space law expert Michael Dodge, existing [[space law]], such as the [[Outer Space Treaty]], guarantees access to space, but does not enforce social inclusiveness or regulate non-state actors.<ref name="Bartels 2018h">{{cite web | last=Bartels | first=Meghan | title=People are calling for a movement to decolonize space—here's why | website=Newsweek | date=25 May 2018 | url=https://www.newsweek.com/should-we-colonize-space-some-people-argue-we-need-decolonize-it-instead-945130 | access-date=9 November 2021}}</ref>

Particularly the narrative of the "[[New Frontier]]" has been criticized as unreflected continuation of [[settler colonialism]] and [[manifest destiny]], continuing the narrative of exploration as fundamental to the assumed [[human nature]].<ref name="Schaberg 2021">{{cite web | last=Schaberg | first=Christopher | title=We're Already Colonizing Mars | website=Slate Magazine | date=30 March 2021 | url=https://slate.com/technology/2021/03/mars-colonization-is-already-happening.html | access-date=8 September 2021}}</ref><ref name="Renstrom 2021">{{cite web | last=Renstrom | first=Joelle | title=The Troubling Rhetoric of Space Exploration | website=Undark Magazine | date=18 March 2021 | url=https://undark.org/2021/03/18/rhetoric-of-space-exploration/ | access-date=15 August 2021}}</ref><ref name="Haskins">{{cite web|title=The racist language of space exploration|url=https://theoutline.com/post/5809/the-racist-language-of-space-exploration|website=The Outline|access-date=20 September 2019|date=14 August 2018|first=Caroline |last=Haskins|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191016235916/https://theoutline.com/post/5809/the-racist-language-of-space-exploration|archive-date=16 October 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="DNLee">{{cite web |last=Lee |first=D. N. |date=26 March 2015 |title=When discussing Humanity's next move to space, the language we use matters |url=https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/urban-scientist/when-discussing-humanity-8217-s-next-move-to-space-the-language-we-use-matters/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190914011756/https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/urban-scientist/when-discussing-humanity-8217-s-next-move-to-space-the-language-we-use-matters/ |archive-date=14 September 2019 |access-date=20 September 2019 |website=[[Scientific American]] |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Drake2018">{{cite web|date=9 November 2018|title=We need to change the way we talk about space exploration|first=Nadia|last=Drake|author-link=Nadia Drake|publisher=[[National Geographic]]|access-date=19 October 2019 |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/20191016235826/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2018/11/we-need-to-change-way-we-talk-about-space-exploration-mars/|archive-date=16 October 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> Joon Yun considers [[Space and survival|space colonization as a solution to human survival]] and global problems like pollution to be imperialist;<ref>{{cite web |last=Yun |first=Joon |date=2 January 2020 |title=The Problem With Today's Ideas About Space Exploration. |url=https://www.worth.com/is-space-the-next-frontier-for-the-same-old-story-of-imperialism/ |access-date=28 June 2020 |website=Worth.com}}</ref> others have identified space as a new [[sacrifice zone]] of colonialism.<ref name="Calma 2021">{{cite web | last=Calma | first=Justine | title=Jeff Bezos eyes space as a new 'sacrifice zone' | website=The Verge | date=21 July 2021 | url=https://www.theverge.com/2021/7/21/22587249/jeff-bezos-space-pollution-industry-sacrifice-zone-amazon-environmental-justice | access-date=9 November 2021}}</ref>

Furthermore, the understanding of space as empty and separate is considered a continuation of [[terra nullius]].<ref name="w462">{{cite web | title=Astro-Colonialism: Conversation with Willi Lempert | website=Society for Cultural Anthropology | date=26 March 2024 | url=https://culanth.org/fieldsights/astro-colonialism-conversation-with-willi-lempert | access-date=4 January 2025 |first=Hae-Seo |last=Kim}}</ref><ref name="c593">{{cite journal | last1=Mitchell | first1=A. | last2=Wright | first2=S. | last3=Suchet-Pearson | first3=S. | last4=Lloyd | first4=K. | last5=Burarrwanga | first5=L. | last6=Ganambarr | first6=R. | last7=Ganambarr-Stubbs | first7=M. | last8=Ganambarr | first8=B. | last9=Maymuru | first9=D. | last10=Maymuru | first10=R. | title=Dukarr lakarama: Listening to Guwak, talking back to space colonization | journal=Political Geography | publisher=Elsevier BV | volume=81 | year=2020 | issn=0962-6298 | doi=10.1016/j.polgeo.2020.102218 | doi-access=free | page=102218 | url=https://hal.science/hal-04689795/document | access-date=4 January 2025}}</ref>

Natalie B. Trevino argues that not colonialism but [[decoloniality|coloniality]] will be carried into space if not reflected on.<ref name="Trevino 2021">{{cite thesis | last=Trevino | first=Natalie B | title=The Cosmos is Not Finished |type=PhD dissertation |publisher=University of Western Ontario | date=30 October 2020 | url=https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/7567 | access-date=9 September 2021}}</ref>

More specifically the advocacy for territorial colonization [[Mars colonization|of Mars]] has been called ''surfacism'', in contrast to [[Venus colonization|habitation in the atmospheric space of Venus]],<ref name="Tickle 2015">{{cite web | last=Tickle | first=Glen | title=A Look into Whether Humans Should Try to Colonize Venus Instead of Mars | website=Laughing Squid | date=5 March 2015 | url=https://laughingsquid.com/a-look-into-whether-humans-should-try-to-colonize-venus-instead-of-mars/ | access-date=1 September 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Warmflash |first=David |date=14 March 2017 |title=Colonization of the Venusian Clouds: Is 'Surfacism' Clouding Our Judgement? |url=https://www.visionlearning.com/blog/2017/03/14/colonization-venusian-clouds-surfacism-clouding-judgement/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191211122431/https://www.visionlearning.com/blog/2017/03/14/colonization-venusian-clouds-surfacism-clouding-judgement/ |archive-date=11 December 2019 |access-date=20 September 2019 |website=Vision Learning |language=en}}</ref> a concept similar to [[Thomas Gold]]s ''[[surface chauvinism]]''.

More generally space infrastructure such as the [[Mauna Kea Observatories]] have also been [[Opposition to the Mauna Kea Observatories|criticized and protested against]] as being colonialist.<ref name="Matson Nunn 2021">{{cite web | last1=Matson | first1=Zannah Mae | last2=Nunn | first2=Neil | title=Space Infrastructure, Empire, And The Final Frontier: What The Mauna Kea Land Defenders Teach Us About Colonial Totality | website=Society & Space | date=6 September 2021 | url=https://www.societyandspace.org/articles/space-infrastructure-empire-and-the-final-frontier-what-the-mauna-kea-land-defenders-teach-us-about-colonial-totality | access-date=7 September 2021}}</ref> [[Guiana Space Centre]] has also been the site of anti-colonial protests, connecting colonization as an issue on Earth and in space.<ref name="Durrani 2019"/>

In regard to the scenario of [[first contact (science fiction)|extraterrestrial]] [[first contact (anthropology)|first contact]], it has been argued that the employment of colonial language would endanger such first impressions and encounters.<ref name="Bartels 2018h"/>

Furthermore, spaceflight as a whole and space law more particularly has been criticized as a postcolonial project by being built on a colonial legacy and by not facilitating the sharing of access to space and its benefits, too often allowing spaceflight to be used to sustain colonialism and imperialism, most of all on Earth instead.<ref name="Durrani 2019"/>

====Planetary protection and risk of contamination====

{{see also|Planetary protection}}
Agencies conducting interplanetary missions are guided by [[Committee on Space Research|COSPAR]]'s planetary protection policies, to have at most 300,000 spores on the exterior of the craft—and more thoroughly sterilized if they contact "special regions" containing water, or it could contaminate life-detection experiments or the planet itself.<ref name=groundwatercontamination>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-27526981 Queens University Belfast scientist helps NASA Mars project] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181119091228/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-27526981 |date=19 November 2018}} "No-one has yet proved that there is deep groundwater on Mars, but it is plausible as there is certainly surface ice and atmospheric water vapour, so we wouldn't want to contaminate it and make it unusable by the introduction of micro-organisms."</ref><ref>[https://science.nasa.gov/media/medialibrary/2012/05/04/COSPAR_Planetary_Protection_Policy_v3-24-11.pdf Cospar Planetary Protection Policy], {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130306111646/https://science.nasa.gov/media/medialibrary/2012/05/04/COSPAR_Planetary_Protection_Policy_v3-24-11.pdf|date=6 March 2013}} (20 October 2002; As Amended to 24 March 2011).</ref>

It is impossible to sterilize human missions to this level, as humans are host to typically a hundred trillion [[microorganism]]s of thousands of species of the [[human microbiome]], and these cannot be removed while preserving the life of the human. Containment seems the only option, but it is a major challenge in the event of a hard landing (i.e. crash).<ref name=biospherescollide>{{cite web|url=https://www.nasa.gov/history/history-publications-and-resources/nasa-history-series/when-biospheres-collide/#.U_uVh_mwJcQ |title=When Biospheres Collide – a History of NASA's Planetary Protection Programs |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190714112103/https://www.nasa.gov/connect/ebooks/when_biospheres_collide_detail.html#.U_uVh_mwJcQ |archive-date=14 July 2019 |first=Michael |last=Meltzer |date=31 May 2012 |quote=see Chapter 7, Return to Mars – final section: Should we do away with human missions to sensitive targets|access-date=18 April 2025}}</ref> There have been several planetary workshops on this issue, but with no final guidelines yet for a way forward.<ref>Johnson, James E. [http://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/ppw2015/pdf/1010.pdf "Planetary Protection Knowledge Gaps for Human Extraterrestrial Missions: Goals and Scope." (2015)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191026125720/https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/ppw2015/pdf/1010.pdf |date=26 October 2019 }}</ref> Human explorers could also inadvertently contaminate Earth if they return to the planet while carrying extraterrestrial microorganisms.<ref>{{cite book |title=Safe on Mars: Precursor Measurements Necessary to Support Human Operations on the Martian Surface |date=2002 |url=https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/10360/safe-on-mars-precursor-measurements-necessary-to-support-human-operations |chapter=Potential Hazards of the Biological Environment (Chapter 5) |publisher=National Academies Press |location=Washington, DC |doi=10.17226/10360 |isbn=978-0-309-08426-0 |access-date=19 April 2025 |quote=Martian biological contamination may occur if astronauts breathe contaminated dust or if they contact material that is introduced into their habitat. If an astronaut becomes contaminated or infected, it is conceivable that he or she could transmit Martian biological entities or even disease to fellow astronauts, or introduce such entities into the biosphere upon returning to Earth. A contaminated vehicle or item of equipment returned to Earth could also be a source of contamination}}</ref>