The emerging commercial space industry is raising new types of ethical questions about the privatization of space travel and planetary exploration. The industry is carrying out commercial endeavors ahead of the development of specifically established government regulations and industry standards. Much of the oversight of commercial space flight emerges from the Federal Aviation Administration and commercial space industries. As lucidly explained in this book, the ethical issues of space flight involve human safety issues, environmental quality concerns, and business conduct and integrity practices typically associated with new technologies and entrepreneurial ventures. The author compares the ramifications of current planetary space flight endeavors to those of the long-distance ocean voyages early peoples seeking resources and livelihoods in distant lands made. The text also describes novel ethical concerns related to living in space and encountering life-forms that may exist on other planets. The viewpoints expressed in the book are pragmatic and based on the author's experiences as director of a technology ethics program. Green discusses the philosophical principles underlying each ethical concern of interest. A case study, discussion questions, and recommended further readings from primary sources supplement each chapter. Recommended. All readers.
— Choice Reviews
An excellent primer on the basic issues of contemporary space ethics, written in a clear, engaging, and evenhanded fashion. There is no better way to introduce yourself to the topic.
Keith Abney, California Polytechnic State University
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“We always have to start now,” Green reminds us and Space Ethics is the perfect launching pad for consideration of what is at stake in exploration of the final frontier. Green provides a framework for considering responsible interactions between humans, the Earth, and the vastness of space. I have wanted to teach a course on space ethics for years—finally I have the ideal text.
Margaret R. McLean, associate director of the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, Santa Clara University
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We are at the beginning of the true space age and this groundbreaking work is the first to explore the wide array of ethical issues this exciting new era brings to the fore: from space debris to planetary protection to the search for life on other worlds. It is destined to become a classic in the field.
Kelly C. Smith, professor of philosophy and biological sciences at Clemson University and President of the Society for Social and Conceptual Issues in Astrobiology
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