Space society

This paper aims to sketch - without claiming to be constitutive or exhaustive - an imaginary initial exogeography of population, proposing the transposition of four fundamental concepts of population geography into the exogeographic domain: migration, settlement, life expectancy and fertility. These concepts reveal aspects that are little studied by geographers in outer space. Still, they should be taken seriously, as they are in other disciplines: How would “mass” migration take place in an outer space characterised by physical conditions and distances incomparable to those on Earth? How would human settlements affect an extra-terrestrial environment? How would the politics and territorial management of a human settlement on another planet work? What are the risks to survival and reproduction off Earth? To grasp the perspectives and new opportunities offered by the various fields of outer space studies, such as exogeography, traditional geography will have to demonstrate innovation, internationalisation, and interdisciplinarity.

The idea of a responsible cosmopolitan state (RCS) represents a recent attempt to reconcile the utopianism of cosmopolitan political theory and the practical constraints arising from the current realities of politics among territorial and largely self-interested states. I show in the chapter that the neorealist and/or geopolitical challenge rests on a misconception about what cosmopolitanism is meant to provide, because immediate practical advice is only a part of what normative political theory may bring to the table. Besides the notion of self-interest which can be interpreted in different ways, it is mainly the action-modifying role of norms (especially international/supranational law) which may gradually change the game. Since the sustenance of state capacities is often preconditioned by events which take place beyond state borders, shared rules of conduct allow for more effective coordination in cases where collective action is required. Although the idea of a RCS primarily targets foreign policy priorities of smaller/weaker states (not-great-powers), it may turn out that collective action problems arising from empirical realities of the 21st century increasingly put great powers under pressure to accept such self-imposed constraints and comply with them. In the final part of the paper, however, I explain why this ‘cosmopolitan optimism’ needs to be aware of its own limitations, singling out the problems of internal motivation of actors in world politics and the deeper meaning of sovereignty which precludes an easy switch to the language of dispersed, pooled, or relational sovereignty. I conclude by arguing that if we are to take cosmopolitan ideals seriously, the RCS most likely represents a transitional stage on the route towards a centralised global political authority

Human services planning for crews who go to Mars is in its earliest phase, but the modalities for service delivery are well worth anticipating because they could involve some of the first innovations that merge physical, biological, and digital capacities on the new planet. This chapter examines the constraints of the planet Mars, itself, on all humans. It anticipates how "exogenous stressors" (gravity, atmosphere, radiation, light, and dust) might affect the psychological, social, and cultural capacities and conflicts of the earliest crews. Several types of service modalities are explored: hibernation; medication management; traditional psychotherapy; longdistance modalities to approximate the "talking cure"; digitized, keyed psychology workbooks; robotics, or service delivery without verbal feedback; AI technologies, or service delivery with verbal feedback; problem-solving at the cultural level; digital bulletin boards to substitute for journaling; and a special section on the issue of privacy. The chapter rounds out with a section, on types of spiritual services that may be beneficial even for those who profess no faith. We focus on "sacred space," and on death and burial ritual on Mars. Factors explored here reflect the backgrounds of the two authors: one, a cultural anthropologist and biologist, and the other, an astronomer who is also a Catholic priest. March 29, 1700…And what great news and how rare is that which your Reverence imparts to me…that it is possible to pass overland to California, news truly the greatest, if it is verified, but which, although desired so long, it has never been possible to confirm… October seventh… we had seen the lands pertaining to California, without any sea between and separating those lands from it (Kino , orig. 1683(Kino -1711)).

Human services planning for crews who go to Mars is in its earliest phase, but the modalities for service delivery are well worth anticipating because they could involve some of the first innovations that merge physical, biological, and digital capacities on the new planet. This chapter examines the constraints of the planet Mars, itself, on all humans. It anticipates how "exogenous stressors" (gravity, atmosphere, radiation, light, and dust) might affect the psychological, social, and cultural capacities and conflicts of the earliest crews. Several types of service modalities are explored: hibernation; medication management; traditional psychotherapy; longdistance modalities to approximate the "talking cure"; digitized, keyed psychology workbooks; robotics, or service delivery without verbal feedback; AI technologies, or service delivery with verbal feedback; problem-solving at the cultural level; digital bulletin boards to substitute for journaling; and a special section on the issue of privacy. The chapter rounds out with a section, on types of spiritual services that may be beneficial even for those who profess no faith. We focus on "sacred space," and on death and burial ritual on Mars. Factors explored here reflect the backgrounds of the two authors: one, a cultural anthropologist and biologist, and the other, an astronomer who is also a Catholic priest. March 29, 1700…And what great news and how rare is that which your Reverence imparts to me…that it is possible to pass overland to California, news truly the greatest, if it is verified, but which, although desired so long, it has never been possible to confirm… October seventh… we had seen the lands pertaining to California, without any sea between and separating those lands from it (Kino 1919, orig. 1683-1711).

Some authors argue that we have a moral obligation to leave Mars the way it is, even if it does not harbour any life. This claim is usually based on an assumption that Mars has intrinsic value. The problem with this concept is that different authors use it differently. In this chapter, I investigate different ways in which an uninhabited Mars is said to have intrinsic value. First, I investigate whether the planet can have moral standing. I find that this is not a plausible assumption. I then investigate different combinations of objective value and end value. I find that there is no way we can know whether an uninhabited Mars has objective end value and even if it does, this does not seem to imply any moral obligations on us. I then investigate whether an uninhabited Mars can have subjective end value. I conclude that this is very plausible. I also investigate whether an uninhabited Mars can have objective instrumental value in relation to some other, non-Mars related end value. I find also this very plausible. It is also highly plausible, however, that spreading (human or other) life to a presently uninhabited Mars can also have subjective end value, as well as objective instrumental value. I mention shortly two ways of prioritising between these values: (1) The utilitarian method of counting the number of sentient beings who entertain each value and determining the strength of the values to them. (2) Finding a compromise that allows colonisation on parts of the planet while leaving other parts untouched. These methods should be seen as examples, not as an exhaustive list. Also, I do not take a definitive stand in favour of any of the two approaches, though it seems at least prima facie that the second approach may have a better chance of actually leading to a constructive result.

Mutation in the Science Fiction (SF) genre is viewed with revulsion as it results in strange beings, threatening monsters and alien others. Infertility is a common problem, worldwide, that will eventually affect up to a third of couples. This paper will discuss the role of mutation in nature and provide an overview of mutations resulting in infertility in SF. The science behind some of the narratives will be explained while extrapolations that exceed reasonable poetic license will be pointed out.