We are told, says philosopher Ben Bramble, that humanity’s destiny lies beyond Earth with the promise of cities on Mars, asteroid mining, lunar industries, and even “backup planets” to secure our survival. But is becoming a multiplanetary species really the wisest path forward?
Bramble, a mission specialist for the Australian National University’s Institute for Space, examines the most influential arguments for permanent human settlement in space—from planetary insurance policies to visions of boundless economic expansion—and asks whether they withstand serious scrutiny. Drawing on philosophy, space science, and political thought, he argues that many of the promises of the New Space Age rest on confusion about risk, progress, and what makes a human future genuinely good.
The goal is not to reject space science, but to defend it: to distinguish curiosity-driven exploration from fantasies of escape and expansion. If we care about humanity’s long-term flourishing, Bramble suggests we may need to look less to Mars—and more carefully at Earth.
His new book, Lunacy: Ten False Promises of the New Space Age (Princeton University Press), is available for purchase.
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