An argument for a duty to explore space is that humans can only fulfill some inherent human impulses via space exploration, such as the drive to explore or move.
The main activities involved by such a duty would be human space exploration and space colonization.
Robert Zubrin, the founder of the Mars Society, is one of the proponents of this logic:
One of our primary adaptations is the human desire to explore.
Because our forefathers did, and because we are alive because they did, we have a fundamental desire to see what is on the other side of the hill.
As a result, I am confident that mankind will go into space.
If we didn't, we'd be less than human.
Carl Sagan and Ian Crawford are two other proponents.
In Cosmos, Sagan says,
"We began on our cosmic journey with a question first posed in the infancy of our species and asked again with undiminished amazement in each generation:
What are the stars?" Exploration is ingrained in our DNA.
We started out as wanderers, and we still are.
We've spent much too much time on the cosmic ocean's beaches.
Finally, we're ready to set sail for the stars.
Meanwhile, Crawford makes an even stronger case for space travel as a need for humanity's survival:
Access to such a frontier, at least vicariously, may be psychologically essential for human civilizations' long-term well-being.
It's essential to highlight that this is a human trait, not just a Western one, since it led to our colonization of the whole globe after our development as a species in a geographically limited area of Africa.
Regardless of how seriously these arguments are taken, it must be true that if we participate in cosmic research, our perspectives will be wider and our culture will be richer than if we do not.
Despite its cult following, claiming that human nature is characterized by exploratory and migratory tendencies is problematic.
For starters, such statements are ambiguous since they may be construed in one of three ways: Such statements may be referring to the notion that mankind has a fate or "destiny" in space.
Such statements may be referring to the notion that inquisitive and migratory habits are fundamental to human civilizations.
On an individual, biological level, such statements may relate to the notion that inquisitive and migratory tendencies are fundamental characteristics of humans.
These are the spiritual, cultural, and biological manifestations of the notion that mankind is characterized by adventurous and migratory inclinations.
If at least one version of the assertion that exploratory and migratory inclinations define humankind is true, then such a claim may be used as a premise in an argument supporting a duty to support those spaceflight activities that fulfill these desires.
To begin, even if it is undisputed that at least one formulation of the claim is true, we would risk the naturalistic fallacy, as Rayna Slobodian (2015) acknowledges, if we conclude directly from one of these formulations that it would be desirable for humans to act on these urges.
At the very least, it might be argued that acting on these impulses does more good than not acting on them, whether via the fulfillment of wants or the realization of positive outcomes.
As a result, it would be easy to dismiss this argument by claiming that funding kinds of spaceflight that fulfill desires to explore or migrate would be insufficiently beneficial.
I will argue that the scientific exploration of space produces enough good, therefore I do not want to go down this path of rejecting a duty to fulfill our claimed desire to explore.
Instead, I will argue against the first assumption, namely, that any articulation of the assertion that mankind is characterized by exploratory and migratory inclinations contains little meaningful reality.
However, space constraints prevent a comprehensive examination of all three versions.
As a result, I'll just address my problems with the third, biological formulation; for further information on the mystical and cultural formulations.
So, for the time being, I'd want to concentrate on the argument that inquisitive and migratory behaviors are necessary human characteristics in a biological or genetic sense.
We'll need to look at psychology, anthropology, and genetics for some answers.
~ Jai Krishna Ponnappan
You may also want to read more about Space Exploration, Space Missions and Systems here.
