![]() I talked to Rubenstein about the fear of screwing up space like we’ve screwed up Earth: Is that really a fear of trampling on space’s own intrinsic value, or is it more a fear about human nature? A transcript of our conversation, edited for length and clarity, follows. In fact, some believe these celestial bodies should have fundamental rights of their own. ![]() Remember how Donald Trump described the Artemis mission and eventual settlement of the moon and Mars? He called it “America’s manifest destiny in the stars.”īut as Rubenstein points out, not everyone thinks it’s the moon’s destiny to be strip-mined, or Mars’s destiny to be settled by human colonists. What’s “religion” doing in that title, and why is a religion professor writing a book about the space program? Rubenstein argues that today’s corporate space race - helmed by Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson, and others who propose to “save” humanity from a dying planet - is actually rehashing old Christian themes that go all the way back to the 15th century, when European Christians colonized the Americas. A Wesleyan professor of religion and science in society, she’s the author of the new book Astrotopia: The Dangerous Religion of the Corporate Space Race. Mary-Jane Rubenstein told me that vision makes her want to throw up. The vision is to mine the lunar surface for rocket fuel that can then propel us all the way to Mars - and beyond, as humanity takes its self-appointed place in the stars. Space mining companies competing for government contracts want to turn the moon into a cosmic gas station. ![]() It’s not just that private industry helped build the program’s spacecraft. Hailed by NASA spokespeople as “pioneers” and “explorers,” they were greeted with fanfare befitting “humanity’s crew.”īut behind the Artemis II program are much more corporate goals. The crew includes two historic firsts: the first woman, Christina Koch, and the first person of color, Victor Glover, to go on a lunar mission. NASA revealed on Monday the names of the four astronauts who will travel around the moon as part of the Artemis II program.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |