Defending spaceflight – The echoes of Apollo

Rovetto, Robert J.

doi:10.1016/j.spacepol.2015.05.007

Cited by 7 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 13 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Critics argue that human exploration of space does not offer any benefits for science, industry, medicine or technologies (Szocik 2019;Weinberg 2013). In response, advocates of a human space program focus mostly on benefits for space science (Crawford 2012;Shelhamer 2017) and spinoffs useful for humanity (Crawford 2012;Rovetto 2013Rovetto , 2016. Some advocates also discuss such non-material benefits provided by human space exploration as human feelings of pride, direct 'access' to the power of universe and so forth (Rovetto 2013(Rovetto , 2016Shelhamer 2017).…”

Section: The State Of the Artmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In response, advocates of a human space program focus mostly on benefits for space science (Crawford 2012;Shelhamer 2017) and spinoffs useful for humanity (Crawford 2012;Rovetto 2013Rovetto , 2016. Some advocates also discuss such non-material benefits provided by human space exploration as human feelings of pride, direct 'access' to the power of universe and so forth (Rovetto 2013(Rovetto , 2016Shelhamer 2017). One of the strongest arguments for the human presence in space is the concept of a space refuge for post-catastrophic Earth.…”

Section: The State Of the Artmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Science and Engineering Ethics. DOI: 10.1007/s11948-019-00131-1 duration space station missions, including the longest in history, the 437-day space mission of Valeri Polyakov at the Mir space station in 1994/1995, and the one-year ISS mission of Scott Kelly and Mikhail Kornienko in 2015/2016(Garrett-Bakelman et al 2019. However, such missions do not offer a full analogy with a human mission to Mars for a number of reasons.…”

Section: Ethical Issues In Gene Editing For the Purposes Of Living Inmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Ethical Challenges in Human Space Missions: A Space Refuge, Scientific Value, and Human Gene Editing for Space

Szocik

Norman²,

Reiß³

2019

Sci Eng Ethics

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This article examines some selected ethical issues in human space missions including human missions to Mars, particularly the idea of a space refuge, the scientific value of space exploration, and the possibility of human gene editing for deep-space travel. Each of these issues may be used either to support or to criticize human space missions. We conclude that while these issues are complex and context-dependent, there appear to be no overwhelming obstacles such as cost effectiveness, threats to human life or protection of pristine space objects, to sending humans to space and to colonize space. The article argues for the rationality of the idea of a space refuge and the defensibility of the idea of human enhancement applied to future deep-space astronauts.

show abstract

Section: The State Of the Artmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The State Of the Artmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Ethical Issues In Gene Editing For the Purposes Of Living Inmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Ethical Challenges in Human Space Missions: A Space Refuge, Scientific Value, and Human Gene Editing for Space

Szocik

Norman²,

Reiß³

2019

Sci Eng Ethics

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…All of which cannot be underestimated in distant and high-risk environments. However, due to the complicated nature of crewed missions over extended time periods, many new technologies and engineering processes still need to be developed (Crawford, 2004;Rovetto, 2016). One of the greatest challenges of long-distance space travel and the establishment of bases beyond Earth's orbit is the ability to provide food, water, and a breathable atmosphere for the crew in a stable and secure manner with a high reliability over time.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development of Nitrogen Recycling Strategies for Bioregenerative Life Support Systems in Space

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

To enable long-distance space travel, the development of a highly efficient and robust system to recover nutrients from waste streams is imperative. The inability of the current physicochemical-based environmental control and life support system (ECLSS) on the ISS to produce food in situ and to recover water and oxygen at high enough efficiencies results in the need for frequent resupply missions from Earth. Therefore, alternative strategies like biologically-based technologies called bioregenerative life support systems (BLSSs) are in development. These systems aim to combine biological and physicochemical processes, which enable in situ water, oxygen, and food production (through the highly efficient recovery of minerals from waste streams). Hence, minimalizing the need for external consumables. One of the BLSS initiatives is the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Micro-Ecological Life Support System Alternative (MELiSSA). It has been designed as a five-compartment bioengineered system able to produce fresh food and oxygen and to recycle water. As such, it could sustain the needs of a human crew for long-term space exploration missions. A prerequisite for the self-sufficient nature of MELiSSA is the highly efficient recovery of valuable minerals from waste streams. The produced nutrients can be used as a fertilizer for food production. In this review, we discuss the need to shift from the ECLSS to a BLSS, provide a summary of past and current BLSS programs and their unique approaches to nitrogen recovery and processing of urine waste streams. In addition, compartment III of the MELiSSA loop, which is responsible for nitrogen recovery, is reviewed in-depth. Finally, past, current, and future related ground and space demonstration and the space-related challenges for this technology are considered.

show abstract

“…The space policy literature from the UK and USA identifies inspiration of current and future generations as one of the main reasons for supporting the case for human spaceflight (Curtis et al, 2010;Rovetto, 2016), and Brown (2007) argues that the space community must prioritise communicating its message in order to avoid the public seeing spaceflight as expendable. The Principia mission in 2015-16 presented an opportunity to systematically gather data in the UK about the dynamics of the mission in shaping young people's attitudes towards STEM and human spaceflight.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%