THE JOURNAL OF ASTROSOCIOLOGY VOLUME 1

Whereas life has not been discovered on Mars, there are areas where the temperature andmoisture fall within ranges that might support life. In these areas, strict procedures will be put inplace. So what would happen if astronauts returning from Mars came down with some sort ofmystery illness? “Safeguarding the Earth from harmful backward contamination must always bethe highest planetary protection priority” (Conley and Rummel 2008: 1027). The worst casescenario for astronauts is getting marooned in space or sacrificed on re-entry, but watch for thisin science fiction, not in the evening news.b. Planetary DefenseAstronomers, planetary scientists, and other physical scientists that study the asteroidthreat have shown remarkable interest in contributions from social scientists. This is evident inthe International Academy of Astronautics Cosmic Study Group’s report on Dealing with theThreat to Earth posed by Asteroids and Comets edited by Ivan Bekey (2009). This includeschapters on societal matters (Organizing for the Task, Behavioral Factors and Planetary Defense,and Policy Implications). Thus, the scientific and technical agendas include identifyingpotentially hazardous near-Earth objects, calculating and recalculating orbits to estimate when(and to a lesser degree, where) they will strike, and inventing and deploying devices to deflect ordestroy the object. The societal agenda includes promoting international planning, performingrisk assessments that take subjective evaluations and emotions into account, and preparing forwarnings and evacuations, an initial emergency response, and long-term recovery efforts (Raceet al., 2012). Cosmic threats, asteroid impacts, and other major disasters may be interpreted withreference to core beliefs about apocalypse and Armageddon. That is, there is an eerie similaritybetween apocalyptic visions and scientific accounts of the death of planet Earth (Harrison, 2007).c. Becoming a Multi-Planet SpeciesThe future of human life depends in part on establishing ourselves as a multi-planetspecies, migrating in numbers to create off world communities of sufficient size so that humans(perhaps in radically altered forms) as a whole can survive an event that kills everyone leftbehind. This raises myriad questions ranging from governmental and economic support for spaceactivities and settlement, through the development of laws and organizational principles foroperating large societies in space, to the nitty-gritty of getting along with one another underconditions of isolation and confinement (Finney and Jones, 1984; Harris, 2009; Harrison, 2001,Vakoch, 2013). Should we expect stripped down governments, martial law, and rough-andtumblejustice? How might our new extraterrestrial perspective affect religion? Can we developeducational curricula that offer a broad humanistic education where long hours of hard work andwell-learned trades are required for day-to-day survival? How might families be restructured tobring about a rapid growth in population to assure long-term group survival? Then there arequestions regarding the relationship between the mother society and its offspring. Althoughinitially, the home culture will have a powerful sway over emigrants, from the moment ofdeparture on, the two cultures will begin to diverge. What are the processes that might lead to thesettlement’s culture becoming dominant and how long will this take? Ethical issues includeconsigning generations of unborn children to multi-generation missions, and the acceptability ofsuicide in a resource-strapped community.© 2015 Astrosociology Research Institute24