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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Science

Arts and humanities have a role in understanding space exploration

Long exposure Starlink satellite trails streak across the night sky above silhouetted trees and a building
A satellite constellation launched by Elon Musk’s company SpaceX. Photograph: Stephen Chung/Alamy Live News

Where are the arts and humanities in current debates about space research? The physicist Laura Grego tells us we “have to be aware of what is happening in space”, that we should probe Elon Musk’s potential “appropriation” of space via satellite, and that our spacefaring era raises questions about our stewardship of the Earth for future generations, and the significance of human culture (‘Most people don’t know we’ve set up a doomsday system’: physicist Laura Grego on satellites, nuclear weapons and the battle for our skies, 20 July).

Meanwhile, your interviewer Aida Edemariam notes both the Artemis mission’s potential to inspire, and the relegation of most of us to an audience agog, with no say in civilisational decisions about major space missions.

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