Monica Truninger, ICS-ULisboa Assistant Researcher, is participating on the 23rd and 24th of May in this workshop that is being held on the campus of the University of Manchester, in the conference facilities of the newly-refurbished Alliance Manchester Business School.
This workshop intends to provide an opportunity for natural and social scientists to meet and exchange ideas. Here, it will be evaluated the implications of humanity’s attempts to make contact with and transform new and unknown space environments, including those of other planets, their satellites, and asteroids.
In this workshop, we would like to open discussions about the future of our exploration of the space closest to Earth, and which questions are raised by our return to the Moon. We invite papers which ask questions about:
The ethical, environmental, political, economic, social, cultural implications of private and state-sponsored missions to the Moon and other worlds? Problems posed by future space exploration (e.g. the abundance of artificial human-made debris in Earth orbit already presents a problem for space travel and space tourism); The fundamental philosophical questions about humanity’s place in the universe (eg. what it means to travel to other worlds, the underlying assumptions about human beings that may impact the different ‘imaginaries’ of space travel and use); Given contested views of space exploration and their multiple ‘imaginaries’, how can we prepare and plan new missions in order to minimise unforeseen risks for the future? What principles of accountability, responsibility and precaution might be appropriate? What models exist that could provide inspiration (e.g. Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty)? Who should be involved in preparing, reflecting upon and be considered in such interplanetary futures? Should it be scientists? Military personnel? Or others? (e.g. business entrepreneurs; policy makers; space-faring nations; space agencies; or other renown international organizations (e.g. UN)? Should we extend this network to other beings and entities? (For example: children, ethnic and cultural minorities and non-space faring nations; religious and non religious groups; organic and inorganic matter; artists and other professionals? What would different groups bring to new ways of relating humans with the Moon and other planetary bodies?
