2026/01/21 by Matti Häyry · 1 voice
Physics and Astronomy · Social Sciences · #Innovation, Sustainability, Human-Machine Systems #Space Science and Extraterrestrial Life #Space exploration and regulation
paper · pdf · doi:10.1111/bioe.70083
openalex publication_date 2026/01/21 · openalex created_date 2026/01/22 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/27
The eventual goal of space exploration is to colonize exoplanets and their moons outside our solar system. This is a dangerous and immoral endeavour. The extraterrestrial life forms encountered would be hostile, vulnerable or both, and the descendants of the original pioneers would be involuntarily exposed to hazardous conditions and totalitarian regimes. They would have little or no control over their lives, reproduction, or death. Even in the unlikely event that homo sapiens, the species responsible for degrading its own home planet, could be expected to fare better in a new habitat in the future, the sacrifices thrust upon the non-consenting interim generations would be ethically unacceptable.