Cosmic Society by Peter Geoffrey Dickens

Even more significant in the short-term is a proposed $25 billion being allocated to NASA to kick-start commercial manned spaceflight over the next five years. Instead, NASA will undertake a long-term research and development program aimed at supporting future forms of propulsion and exploration programs. space program that involves manned missions to Mars by the mid-2030s.īut the NASA-based Constellation program to the moon and Mars has been cancelled. Furthermore, President Obama has recently made important announcements regarding a new U.S. But nearby, parts of the solar system (including the moon, some asteroids, and Mars) are now being routinely circled and explored and analyzed by robots. Nothing quite so dramatic or exotic seems to have happened in outer space since. The 1969 Apollo 11 moon landing is often seen as the high point of society’s relationship with outer space. They would also allow humanity to develop a better understanding of the cosmos and our relationship to it. These would enhance the prospects of the socially marginalized. The time has come to consider alternative forms of cosmic humanization. Furthermore, the forthcoming commodification and colonization of the cosmos is again likely to enhance the interests of the powerful, the major aerospace companies in particular. These include major economic and military institutions. As these examples suggest, however, the humanization of the cosmos is primarily benefiting the powerful.

Satellites have for some time been central to the flow of information, to surveillance, and to the conduct of warfare. Society is increasingly humanizing the cosmos. The interactive website linked to this book and intended to stimulate debate over the humanization of the cosmos is The Sociology of the Universe. His most recent book, co-written with James Ormrod, is Cosmic Society: Towards a Sociology of the Universe (2009). Peter Dickens (p.dickens1 ) teaches at the Universities of Brighton and Cambridge, UK.

Cosmic Society by Peter Geoffrey Dickens