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Protecting and expanding the richness and diversity of life, an ethic for astrobiology research and space exploration

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 October 2013

Richard O. Randolph  and
Christopher P. McKay
Richard O. Randolph
Affiliation:
Adjunct Professor of Ethics, Saint Paul School of Theology, Overland Park, KS 66211
Christopher P. McKay*
Affiliation:
Space Science Division, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field CA 94035, 650-604-6864
*
e-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

The ongoing search for life on other worlds and the prospects of eventual human exploration of the Moon and Mars indicate the need for new ethical guidelines to direct our actions as we search and how we respond if we discover microbial life on other worlds. Here we review how life on other worlds presents a novel question in environmental ethics. We propose a principle of protecting and expanding the richness and diversity of life as the basis of an ethic for astrobiology research and space exploration. There are immediate implications for the operational policies governing how we conduct the search for life on Mars and how we plan for human exploration throughout the Solar System.

Keywords

contaminationextraterrestrialplanetary protection policiesspace exploration
Type
Research Article
Information
International Journal of Astrobiology , Volume 13 , Issue 1 , January 2014 , pp. 28 - 34
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

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