We all know that in 1492, “Columbus sailed the Ocean Blue,” and promptly caused the death of countless indigenous peoples, but that doesn’t pertain to the topic of this extraordinarily interesting discussion. Columbus’s voyages to the new world were well funded-primarily by the Spanish Crown. Centuries later, to put a man on the Earth’s only natural satellite, it took an enormous amount of funding by the United States government. Not only that, but it was the government that led this exploration, hired the people required for such a feat, and controlled the operation. Recently, the United States government has been slashing funding for space exploration, leaving the role of funding to businesses. While there are many political reasons for this decision, the examination of those is best left to the unbridled masses. Instead, I will attempt to analyze the impact of a business led exploration system by comparing it to the past.
LED technology, CAT scans, athletic shoes, water purification systems, the ear thermometers your doctors love, home insulation, wireless headsets, memory foam, freeze dried food, smoke detectors, artificial limbs, computer mice, the laptop, and more were all invented or massively improved due to space exploration. Believe it or not, large amounts of government funding enabled these inventions. In addition, because it was the government funding space exploration, these inventions were quickly opened up to the public, something few, if any, companies would do. Similarly, the Age of European Discovery inspired the “discovery” of new improvements. Lateen sails, the astrolabe, the magnetic compass, the cross staff, and the caravel were all more or less created during this time period. Exploration aids innovation, and increased funding helps both. A decrease in funding for exploration should result in a slower progression through the tech tree. This can be seen in the Chronometer, which allowed a practical method for measuring longitude and was invented in 1765. To help in this massively beneficial invention, Harrison was financed and rewarded a total of £23,065 by the English crown. Today, that would be nearly 7 million dollars.
There are other concerns alongside funding. For example, Myriad Genetics actually patented human genes to charge for medical tests! There is no reason why space exploration businesses wouldn’t stoop to such underhanded tactics and harm others in attempts to make more money. Attempts to monetize the incredible potential that lies in space could very well come at the cost of the public’s well being. Imagine the damage a monopoly on artificial limbs, a product of space exploration, could do to people desperately in need. This is an integral risk in any business led industry, but especially in one where invention is so key to its success. For example, all of the photos NASA has taken over the years are in the public domain. How many companies would do the same? How many for-profit corporations have done the same in other industries?
Regardless, the decision to slash funding has already been made. Companies such as SpaceX, under the direction of everyone’s favorite celebrity entrepreneur Elon Musk, will take the lead in the U.S.’s system of space exploration. The privatization of a government-based program is nothing new. GPS was originally a military tool, and now its ever prevalent and a core component of many phone and telecommunications companies. As a private industrial sector, competition will force several changes to occur. A profit-driven business will choose to maximize profits. Why send satellites out to the farthest reaches of the galaxy when it would cost a lot and lack much if any monetizable gain? We can still likely expect pretty pictures for advertisement and public relations purposes, though. So everyone’s favorite stellar images will continue warping in. And sometimes, competition encourages innovation, so there might be a quicker rate of technological development despite the reduced funding.
An alternative point is, if companies attempt lunar landings and colonization of various planetary bodies, who would govern these areas? To what laws would they be subject? If a government was leading such programs, the answers would be obvious. However, there is currently no international governing body, and no contingency plans for one. In addition, any such space company would likely be an international business. As such, a company that successfully founded a planetary or lunar colony would be in a position of self-regulation. And that is quite a dangerous position to be in. While we are certainly not at that level of technology to make such a landing likely or practical, we will almost certainly get there. Assuming we don’t overheat our planet and suffer the likely catastrophic consequences first, of course.
While it’s clear that the government is changing its approach to space to leave it for the businesses, if we want to assure a better interstellar future for our species there are a few things we can do. Federal politicians exist to be lobbied, as demonstrated by countless instances of gun control bills’ failure. We can buy majority shares in all of these spacefaring companies, and use our power to improve the moral standards of the industry, which on second thought means some of you shouldn’t participate. From such a position, we could make sure to spread the wealth of information to the public. But no matter what, we must make sure we don’t have a secret meeting where we divide up the various interstellar bodies between ourselves, like companies so often do. Or how Europeans divided up Africa. And in this totally nonexistent secret meeting, I do not call Alpha Centauri.
References
Reagan, Julia, director. Mars: Inside SpaceX. National Geographic, 2018.
(non-print)
Sobel, Dava. Longitude: the True Story of the Lone Genius Who Solved the
Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time. Walker, 1995. (book)
Lal, Bhavya. “Reshaping Space Policies to Meet Global Trends.” Issues in
Science & Technology, vol. 32, no. 4, Summer 2016, pp. 63–74.
Lo, Jung-pang. “Zheng He.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia
Britannica, Inc., 21 June 2019,
Tyson, Neil deGrasse. “Why Exploration Matters--and Why the Government
Should Pay for It.”McKinsey & Company, Oct. 2012,
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.