It’s a known fact that our planet is not in its best shape: many countries are undergoing intense conflicts. Those who have access to much power are constantly taking advantage of those who are less fortunate than them. The environment is in a deplorable state, and if we continue devastating it we’ll have to leave Earth in search for a new home. However, it’s likely that we are going to behave just as badly out there as we do down here, according to astrobiologist Monica Vidaurri.
Vidaurri’s essay
Monica Vidaurri wrote in a Quartz essay that space exploration is still a very new concept to us and so far it consisted of joint and peaceful effort, even though the space race sparked a very serious rivalry between Russia and the United States at the beginning.
Vidaurri spoke about the effect of the space honor agreement between nations worldwide. She noticed the flaws of the agreement as travel in outer space is getting increasingly crowded.
There is more and more trash in outer space produced by events like the recent destruction of some Chinese and Indian satellites.
Also, Israel’s Baresheet lunar lander infested the surface of the Moon with Tardigrades after crash landing. Even though it was all planned, they are out there and we’re not entirely sure how will they affect the future of Earth’s satellite.
According to Vidaurri, there are no laws or policies that regulate the matter of what is sent into outer space or how we deal with spacial debris. She firmly stated that it’s “important to recognize colonization, imperialism, and exploitation as not just a series of major historical events that humanity is still recovering from, but as things that can conceivably inspire the future laws that will determine our fate in space.”
She concludes with stating that we all have to do our best to restrain and control our impact on outer space so that we won’t compromise it like we did with many resources on Earth.
