Humans in Outer Space: Interdisciplinary Odysseys

摘要

When faced with the issue of space exploration, one generally has an idea of the fields of study and disciplines that are involved: technology, physics and chemistry, robotics, astronomy and planetary science, space biology and medicine. In recent discussions, the human element of space exploration has increasingly attracted interest within the space sciences. As a consequence, humanities and social sciences have gained in relevance in space exploration and space research, at a time when manned space flights are almost part of everyday life. The contribution of knowledge in these fields will play an important part in achieving the next generation of space exploration, where humans will resume exploring the Moon and, eventually, visit Mars. With regard to technology, one might be prepared for this; much less so in the case of space exploration by humans, rather than by robots. This makes human space exploration a topic to address in a cross-disciplinary manner. Exploration is inherent to humans and against this background, addressing the broader issue of humans in (outer) space with a focus on the human element and not only on technology (i.e. robots only) is inevitable. The ESF's Standing Committee for the Humanities (SCH) has taken a strong interest in the study of the implications of exploration by humans, leading it to develop and lead an interdisciplinary initiative on this topic in close collaboration with the ESF's European Space Sciences Committee (ESSC). The interaction which resulted from a workshop in March 2007 paved the way for a conference on Humans in Outer Space, organised in October 2007 in Vienna, in collaboration with the European Space Policy Institute (ESPI) and the European Space Agency (ESA). It provided a unique perspective by identifying various needs and interests of humanities and social sciences linked to space exploration. This position paper aims at expressing the main results from this original ESF initiative.