Why fund human spaceflight?
I am becoming increasingly persuaded that the case for funding human spaceflight is overdetermined provided we somewhat modify the Wikipedia description of that term, perhaps as follows:
Overdetermination is the idea that a single effect can be determined by multiple causes at once, any one of which - standing alone - would constitute sufficient cause for that effect.
Applied to human space flight, various reasons for funding human spaceflight can independently exist (perhaps in contradiction with one another) which yields this marvelous phrase "contradiction and over-determination" which Marxist philosopher Louis Althusser proposed as "a way of thinking about the multiple, often opposed, forces active at once in any political situation, without falling into an over-simple idea of these forces being simply contradictory"
Let's explore these thoughts in the context of a truly marvelous novel titled: Red Moon.
Red Moon: A novel is available from Amazon (of course) and in 2007 was re-released by a new publisher after the early 2000 edition when out-of-print.
At the moment, the novel is also available at Wowio - for free - in an interesting publishing format supported by on-line advertising.
I highly recommend Red Moon and here is a link to the authors website.
Also, here is the Amazon Product Description:
July 13, 1969. Three days before Apollo 11 lifts off from Cape Canaveral, the Soviet Union launches Luna 15, a rocket carrying the lunar lander, Firebird. They later claim it was a failed robotic probe, concealing a final attempt at beating America in the moon race and sealing the fate of its lone occupant, Grigor Belinsky, a cosmonaut blackmailed into flying the one-way mission.
July, 2019. A multinational mission lands on the moon's Sea of Crises. American astronaut Janet Luckman leads a team in search of the Mother Lode: lunar ice, laced with Helium-3-a desperately needed energy source. The future of humanity rides on Luckman's success. Luckman discovers the Firebird and recovers its flight log, but the body of its mystery cosmonaut (Belinsky) is missing. Facing a 51 hour deadline, the dangerous lunar environment and a traitorous crew member bent on murder, she struggles to find the Mother Lode and uncover Belinsky's fate. A firestorm erupts on Earth as both American and Russian authorities attempt to hide the truth about Firebird. As renowned scientist, Milo Jefferson, investigates the Firebird mystery in Moscow, he finds himself in a hall of mirrors created by the sinister genius leading Russia's new Tsarist government: Mikhail Rabikoff. Rabikoff knows that the revelation of Belinsky's fate could topple his regime and will risk the fate of humanity in his attempt to elude Jefferson's inquiries and destroy the truth.
Okay, without significant spoilers, except as may be gleaned from the above product description and information found on the front and back covers lets talk about WHY a multi-national mission was funded in July of 2019 and how the analysis of this novel can help us understand the over-determined nature of human spaceflight.
Helium-3 and abundant energy
The novel is set in 2019 a world wracked by climate change and global depression and in desperate need of carbon-free energy. The novel assumes the prior invention of practical fusion that requires quantities of the Helium-3 isotope which is asserted to exist in comets and the "Motherlode" is a theoretical comet that impacted the lunar surface long ago and buried itself with the regolith thrown up at the time of impact.
In 2019, American astronaut Janet Luckman leads a team that includes a Russian cosmonaut and an Australian in search of that comet.
Why space? One goal is to locate the Helium-3 deposit which shall then provide staggeringly large amounts of clean energy to the peoples of Earth.
Here at Daily Kos, FerrisValyn is perhaps the most vocal proponent of this rationale for human spaceflight although he focuses more on space solar power in preference to Helium-3. Others who advocate this perspective include Jeff Krukin (who is associated with the Space Frontier Foundation) and the 8th Continent project which has some connections with the Denver School of Mines. From the 8th Continent website:
The 8th Continent Project is a comprehensive effort to integrate space technology and resources into the global economy. The Project includes a chamber of commerce, business incubator, funding network and research center. The Project is organizing "Space 2.0" - the emerging generation of entrepreneurial space-related business ventures.
Speaking for myself, I am 200% supportive of these efforts provided we distinguish fact from fantasy.
For example, the novel assumes the existence of a helium-3 fusion reactor and the presence of high levels of helium-3 in comet ice. The novel overlooks that helium-3 can also be extracted from sea water, although that might not have been as widely known in 2000.
Likewise, space solar power beamed to Earth is a tremendously elegant idea first proposed by Gerard K. O'Neill however at the moment I am unpersuaded that the cost of deploying solar power satellites will be offset by the value of the power returned to Earth, especially taking into account other potential green energy sources.
The politics of bread & circuses
Within the novel, the American President is named Dorsey and he supports the 2019 lunar mission as a means to enhance the prestige of his Administration and provide a Depression weary public a tangible symbol to focus on. Whether or not they manage to discover the Helium-3.
Speaking for myself, we can add pork-barrel politics to this category as illustrated by the theme of
"Nelson versus Nelson"
Democratic Senator Bill Nelson (Florida) has been at odds with Democratic Senator Ben Nelson (Nebraska) concerning the use of stimulus money to advance NASA programs and preserve Florida jobs. Florida Representative Suzanne Kosmas also defeated Abramoff linked Tom Feeney in 2008 and she is strongly supporting increased NASA funding and preservation of the shuttle work force.
I also believe that if President Obama were to terminate American human spaceflight (regardless of deficits, recession or depression) the Right Wing Noise machine would cause us far more damage by screaming about the loss of American prestige than the ~$9 billion we spend on NASA human spaceflight is worth, if spent elsewhere.
Geopolitical Prestige
As context for the 2019 mission is the July 1969 Apollo 11 mission and the Soviet July 1969 Luna 15 mission. The novel creates an alt-history counter-factual involving Soviet cosmonaut Grigor Belinsky and the alt-history passages superbly recount the 1960s Soviet - American race to the Moon, from the Soviet perspective.
At least from the Soviet perspective, the value of the national prestige garnered from successful human spaceflight is well depicted.
This view conforms with one of the conclusions of the December 2008 MIT Study on the Future of Human Spaceflight (16 page pdf) which openly asserts that global prestige remains a powerful driver for human spaceflight funding, at least for Russia, China and India perhaps along with the European Union, Japan and others.
I first discussed this study in my PVSE #1 and later in PVSE #4 I suggested that facilitating global cooperation could be a useful objective for US funded human spaceflight.
Personal Inspiration
Soviet cosmonaut Grigor Belinsky ends up being the true protagonist of the novel Red Moon and a highly sympathetic character. In many respects he becomes a role model and therefore advances the argument that human space exploration has real value - if only intangible and inspirational - even after we learn the supposed ice deposits were caused by a fascinating glitch in the lunar satellite data.
The novel contains superb dialog on the value of space exploration despite the "dry" well and argues that space exploration is a journey we can take to better find ourselves. Or maybe I'm just being coy about the plot. Read the novel and find out for yourself.
Science
Science plays only a minor negligible role either in the 2019 mission or the Soviet's 1969 Luna 15 mission. Given the depressed economic conditions in 2019, a science driven human exploration agenda likely wouldn't have gotten funded in the Red Moon fictional world.
Let's return to over-determination
A strong point of the novel (IMHO) is that different reasons motivate different actors. One interpretation of global prestige motivates US President Dorsey to support the mission. Another motivates the restored Russian Tsar. Both men are motivated by highly cynical reasons.
Global partners participate in order to materially benefit all humanity (Helium-3) a less cynical reason.
The actual astronauts in 2019 as well as the 1969 missions have still other motivations.
That returns us to Althusser and his proposal that we consider "the multiple, often opposed, forces active at once in any political situation, without falling into an over-simple idea of these forces being simply contradictory"
Let us remember this lesson when debating "Why fund human space exploration?"