As humanity prepares to send its first astronauts back to the moon by 2026, a new space race is emerging - one with significant implications for global politics, economies, and our very survival on Earth.
The renewed interest in lunar exploration is being driven by the desire to harness the moon's resources, particularly water ice deposits and solar arrays. This pursuit of "resource utilisation" has led to two camps: the US and China-Russia bloc, which are competing for control over the lunar surface under the guise of "peaceful exploration". The UN outer space treaty of 1967 prohibits state exploitation of the heavens, but a loophole regarding private claims is now being exploited by tycoon-led ventures.
The commercialisation of space is being led by the private sector, with tech moguls like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos driving this agenda. SpaceX aims to float its space exploration firm in 2026 for $1.5 trillion, while Google plans to power datacentres in orbit using solar energy. This push for off-Earth infrastructure raises concerns about the ecological limits of our planet.
A parallel to Kim Stanley Robinson's classic sci-fi novel "Red Mars" is unfolding today. The space race is being characterised as a new phase of human settlement, with nations and corporations competing to control the lunar frontier. However, this pursuit of resource utilisation subtly inverts the problem, shifting from reducing dependence on Earth to expanding our ecological footprint.
As we venture into space, it's imperative that we learn from past mistakes. The old politics that drove humanity's last commons into exploitation are being exported to new worlds with disastrous results. We must first learn to live sustainably on our own before occupying another planet. It's a warning echoed by Robinson's novel, which cautions that humanity's actions in space will have far-reaching consequences for our future.
The stakes are high, and the time for action is now. As we embark on this new journey, we must consider the long-term implications of our actions and strive for sustainable practices that benefit both our planet and future generations.
The renewed interest in lunar exploration is being driven by the desire to harness the moon's resources, particularly water ice deposits and solar arrays. This pursuit of "resource utilisation" has led to two camps: the US and China-Russia bloc, which are competing for control over the lunar surface under the guise of "peaceful exploration". The UN outer space treaty of 1967 prohibits state exploitation of the heavens, but a loophole regarding private claims is now being exploited by tycoon-led ventures.
The commercialisation of space is being led by the private sector, with tech moguls like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos driving this agenda. SpaceX aims to float its space exploration firm in 2026 for $1.5 trillion, while Google plans to power datacentres in orbit using solar energy. This push for off-Earth infrastructure raises concerns about the ecological limits of our planet.
A parallel to Kim Stanley Robinson's classic sci-fi novel "Red Mars" is unfolding today. The space race is being characterised as a new phase of human settlement, with nations and corporations competing to control the lunar frontier. However, this pursuit of resource utilisation subtly inverts the problem, shifting from reducing dependence on Earth to expanding our ecological footprint.
As we venture into space, it's imperative that we learn from past mistakes. The old politics that drove humanity's last commons into exploitation are being exported to new worlds with disastrous results. We must first learn to live sustainably on our own before occupying another planet. It's a warning echoed by Robinson's novel, which cautions that humanity's actions in space will have far-reaching consequences for our future.
The stakes are high, and the time for action is now. As we embark on this new journey, we must consider the long-term implications of our actions and strive for sustainable practices that benefit both our planet and future generations.
this space race thingy is gonna be a disaster mark my words 
corporations are just gonna ravage the moon like they did earth already, extract all the resources without caring about the long term consequences, and then pretend like they're saving humanity 
and dont even get me started on the $1.5 trillion float 
who do they think is gonna foot that bill? the future generations are just gonna be stuck with the tab
like what if we exploit the moon's resources and mess up earth even more? 
didnt robinson warn us about this in his book "red mars"? 
same thing happened on mars in the book and now its happening in real life 
we gotta be careful not to repeat past mistakes 
let's focus on making earth sustainable before we go all out on space 
. And now, with SpaceX and Google throwing around billion-dollar plans... I hope they remember that just because we can do something doesn't mean we should do it. What if this is all just a recipe for more problems down the line? Like when everyone rushed to build skyscrapers without thinking about how they'd affect the environment... We're already stressing out our own planet, and now we want to add space junk to the mix 
? Can't we learn from our mistakes before we make new ones?
It's like Robinson's novel said, "the problem is not that we're expanding our capabilities, but that we're still capable of doing harm" 
. The idea of harnessing water ice deposits on the moon could be a game-changer for human settlement.
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. The UN treaty is in place for a reason, and I think it's essential that we work together to ensure that space exploration aligns with our values of sustainability and long-term thinking 
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I'm low-key hyped about space exploration rn! Like, who wouldn't wanna be a part of something that's literally out of this world? 
. And let's not forget about Google's solar-powered datacentres in orbit 
. We gotta make sure we don't mess up space just like we did on Earth 
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. We're basically gonna be stuck with two problems: solving our own ecological issues AND dealing with the consequences of leaving behind a potentially uninhabitable Earth! 
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It's time for some humility, if you ask me. Let's focus on making our own planet a better place before we start colonizing other worlds 
shouldn't we be trying to clean up our act before we try to colonize another planet? anyway i hope those billionaires like musk and bezos know what they're getting themselves into because if this is how space exploration goes down it's not gonna end well for anyone
omg have u seen the latest space news?? so like china & russia are trying to be all peaceful about it but i think they're just trying to get their hands on that lunar water ice 
and solar arrays tho, its def a new frontier for human settlement but we need to be careful not 2 repeat history, like with the red planet or whatever 
oh man, I'm literally feeling like we're sleepwalking into something huge here... all these powerful people with deep pockets are just going for it, no regard for the consequences 
The thought of us expanding our ecological footprint into outer space is just... no thanks