Essay 9 Statement made to the National Commission on Space

Essay 9
STATEMENT MADE
TO THE NATIONAL COMMISSION ON SPACE

By the Lunar Settlement Working Group
On September 17, 1985

We stand today at the threshold of a strategic departure in the history and evolution of human culture--the opportunity to begin the human settlement of space, the Moon, and the planets; the beginning of a new direction and a new vision for humankind.

This is a critical juncture--a fundamental departure--because as a species we cannot stand still--we cannot mark time. If we fail to seize this opportunity--the challenge--to expand human options, then we abdicate elemental responsibilities. If we do not go forward as a human culture, then we go backward, we regress, we begin or continue a tragic decline.

Moreover, if we here in the United States, with our resources, our energy and our commitment to basic human values, do no seize this opportunity, others in the world will. And the new direction of humanity will be plotted for us, not by us.

With the establishment of agriculture, humanity moved from local to regional communities, and with the age of exploration we moved into the global society. With the space age we are moving into inter-planetary society. By clearly and intentionally committing ourselves and our resources to the development of space for the long term, we can and should return to the Moon to stay. We can and should move on to Mars. We can and should mine the asteroids. We can and should build laboratories and hospitals, cities and civilizations in space.

The quest is: Why should Americans take a leading role? No other nation is so well situated to uncover economic opportunity, encourage the flowering of human diversity, and discover new dimensions of the human spirit. Nevertheless, we cannot succeed in space without considering the well-being of all the world's peoples--today's and tomorrow's. Our responsibility is to better the human condition. Standing for political freedom, technological advances, and entrepreneurial endeavors, the American people have been leaders in the past. The present allows that leadership, and the future demands it. Our potential is positive and without limit; we have an obligation to turn it into reality.

The following are the goals identified by our group:

1. We believe that a central goal of our space activities must be the establishment of permanent planetary settlements, communities of women and men who will ultimately achieve self-sufficiency and control of their own destinies. Achievement of this goal will present an immense challenge and will require the accumulations of considerable experience.

2. As a means of achieving this goal we must determine what resources are available in space for human use, promote the technological means of acquiring these resources, and explore means of directing the benefits of those resources into the terrestrial and interplanetary economy.

3. One indication of the maturity of space development will be the emergence of lively commercial activities. During early phases commerce could be encouraged by reliance on the private sector for the supply of goods and services, but we should encourage enterprises which arise independently of public needs.

4. Although we believe that the United States is especially qualified by tradition and interest to provide the human resources and leadership required for space settlement, we agree it is of great importance to encourage global participation among those who feel able, as well as the cooperation of all who are interested. None should feel excluded from the possibilities or potential rewards of space settlement and development.

5. A sense of personal involvement among individuals and peoples will be a great asset. Not everyone will have the opportunity or training to be an explorer or early settler. However, we must convey the sense that everyone has at least some chance of being a direct participant, or can identify with those who are.

6. The firm goal of planetary settlement should serve to spur the basic scientific research remaining to be done and give a further push to the relevant technology--much as major scientific efforts of the past have spun off new technologies and a broad range of applications of benefit to people everywhere.

7. The experimental and demanding nature of human settlements in space will require constant monitoring of experience as well as analysis of the social forces in an isolated environment that is without precedent. Progress will depend heavily on learning from this process of feedback.


8. We should acknowledge an obligation to protect the interests of humankind in preserving the environment of the Moon and planets and to consult the global community on the environmental implications of settlement. We urge a preliminary survey of areas and objects that might merit permanent protection as important historic sites or scientific preserves.

9. Present trends in the growth of space activities show more clearly than ever before the need for the value of a strong civilian space program. Inspirational goals for human achievement in space can serve to vitalize the civilian sector of space development. Setting our sights on lunar and planetary settlement can fuel the aspirations and ambitions of American youth, and ensure an essential continuity to national policy in space.

The Commission has indicated that it was particularly interesting in specific recommendation for implementing our goals, especially ones amenable to present implementation. The areas we have identified involve legislative policy choices. Timely attention to three is critical.

We therefore make the following basic recommendations:

1. That we commit ourselves to significant involvement of the private sector in the commercial development and explorations of space resources in a free market environment. To this end, we should consider not only the provision of economic incentives, such as tax incentives and tax-free financing, that will encourage private sector involvement in this high-risk enterprise, but also to involve and coordinate to a greater degree existing private sector groups;

2. That we reevaluate the proper role of large-scale government subsidization of key industries, perhaps based on the Japanese or #SA-Arianspace models;

3. That we seek to utilize new institutional forms which can serve to insulate the long-term commitments necessary to space settlement from the vagaries of political opinion or of economic cycles.

4. That we seek to utilize institutions which emphasize cooperative policy input and implementation from government, academia and the private sector. ("Centers of Excellence")

5. That an expert commission be formed to make recommendations respecting the need for specific legislation to define a comprehensive and streamlined legal regime for the space context. These should include all major areas of law which concern commercial activities and planning, including tort law, insurance law, criminal law, and questions of jurisdiction;


6. That a basic commitment be made to develop inexpensive and plentiful means of transportation, easily accessible, in which the private sector plays an important role;

7. That particular environmental concerns be expressly and explicitly articulated;

8. Recognizing the opportunity to settle the solar system in an environment free from fear and that settlement is inherently a civilian activity, that we commit ourselves to finding ways of shifting our technological focus to predominantly civilian priorities. An interagency council with a primarily civilian composition may be appropriate to coordinate this aspect of our settlement program.

9. That, consistent with our own nation's historical concern with human dignity and liberty, of guaranteeing basic human civil rights, we recognize the necessity which might otherwise be compromised in the potentially harsh and vulnerable environment of space and planetary habitats;

l0. That we explicitly encourage the inhabitants of these settlements to evolve their own social order requirements, recognizing that we on Earth are not likely to be able to accurately predict what will ultimately be suitable for the space environment, and that it would be inappropriate to impose artificially an Earth-derived values system. We should actively document and study such evolution.

11. That we commit a significant present level of economic and intellectual resources to study the biological and social effects of what we can predict will be the social and physical privations of the space environment, including, for instance, low-gravity, social isolation, and cramped habitats.

We have tried to list some areas of immediate concern. Each represents a major problem area for which we believe a significant present effort is appropriate, so that the policy choice implied may be informed and so that impediments to the speedy success of our initial space enterprise--lunar and planetary settlement--can best be fostered.