Space Tourism Cohen, Erik; Spector, Sam
2019, Letnik:
25
eBook
This is the first comprehensive, multi-disciplinary work on the emergent phenomenon of space tourism. It is written by leading specialists and covers a wide spectrum of topics including space history ...and technology, the environmental, social, and legal aspects of the development of a future space tourism industry, and space tourism marketing.
Advances in suborbital, orbital, and beyond orbit space tourism continue to occur at a rapid pace. However, it is uncertain what form this burgeoning industry will take. Some envisage spaceflight as ...an extension of commercial aviation, a new transport paradigm that would allow flying from London to New York City in less than an hour. Others argue space tourism will remain a niche, high-adrenaline activity suited to adventurers. Finally, space tourism is sometimes instead positioned as more akin to the efforts of explorers, such as early expeditions to Earth's polar regions. The level of acceptable risk associated with space tourism hinges on which of these categories defines its development during the coming decades. This paper argues that uncertainty regarding the future course of space tourism development complicates delineating the level of acceptable risk in this domain and that this dynamic is likely to lead to problematic industrial and customer relations.
The visions of the primary protagonists of the development of outer space diverge in terms of both their motives for and means of extending life into the cosmos. The present article analyses the ...implications for sustainability associated with the visions of three prominent entities - the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the 'space entrepreneurs' who lead the private spaceflight industry (such as Elon Musk, Richard Branson, and Jeff Bezos), and transhumanists. This latter category aims to accelerate evolutionary processes to transform humans into a new 'posthuman' species which will be imbued with a greatly extended lifespan and other capabilities that enhance survivability in outer space. Due to the inchoate nature of safer and more affordable spaceflight, it is currently unclear which vision of space development will come to fruition. As explored in this article, the proposals advocated by NASA, space entrepreneurs, and transhumanists are associated with divergent implications for sustainability. Trade-off decisions must be made in terms of whether to minimise impacts on Earth, other celestial bodies, or the human form. While it is currently unclear which vision will eventuate, the process of space exploration and settlement is poised to considerably alter current conceptualisations of sustainability.
Humankind is increasingly able to travel into outer space. Launch costs have decreased; launch frequencies have increased. These changes are primarily occurring due to private companies becoming ...heavily involved in space-related activities. Prior discussions of humankind's growing influence beyond the biosphere have begun elucidating the species-wide benefits and issues that are concomitant with the development of outer space. Yet, spacecraft are developed at and launched from specific geographic locations, and there is little research regarding how local communities are intertwined with the commercialisation of the cosmos. The present study is motivated by the need to extend the global-local nexus, thereby moving beyond a global perspective of tourism development. This paper develops the concept of a cosmic-local nexus by examining the context of the Māhia Peninsula, a rural area of Aotearoa New Zealand where Rocket Lab, a private company that manufactures rockets and launches small satellites, has situated its primary launch facility. The cosmic-local nexus is particularly salient in this milieu due to the region's strong Māori ties, the hope that the launch site will contribute to regional tourism development, and the fact that the United States military is one of Rocket Lab's primary customers.
Space tourism in the Anthropocene Spector, Sam; Higham, James E.S.
Annals of tourism research,
November 2019, 2019-11-00, Letnik:
79
Journal Article
Recenzirano
There is growing acceptance that we are living through a transition between geological ages, from the Holocene to the Anthropocene. This paper examines the burgeoning space tourism industry in ...relation to the Anthropocene. The development of outer space has significant implications for Earth's inhabitants, yet only a small cadre of individuals, companies, and governments are involved in this process. Space tourism provides a germane context for conceptualising the ongoing debates regarding the extent to which Anthropos - humankind as an undifferentiated, unitary geological force - is responsible for the impacts that have culminated in the Anthropocene. We apply the Capitalocene framework to elucidate how the factors that brought the Anthropocene to fruition are now extending beyond Earth.
•Space tourism is contributing to the rapid commercialisation of outer space.•A very small segment of society exerts growing impacts beyond Earth.•The factors that caused the Anthropocene are now extending into space.•Space tourism is implicated in the search for ‘capitalist fixes’ in the cosmos.•The Capitalocene framework is useful in theorising space tourism.
•Interventions are required to motivate a sustainability transition.•Transport experts proposed interventions that were grouped into nine categories.•Changes include methods of funding, fund ...allocation and overarching legislation.•Transition requires change in the mobility culture of national and local agencies.
The dominance of automobility is giving rise to unsustainable outcomes, not least of which is its contribution to climate change. At the same time, business-as-usual transport systems are entering a period of turbulence as a result of influences such as new and disruptive technologies, intelligent systems, new business models, changing consumer expectations, population growth, suburban sprawl, and national commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. An optimal trajectory towards sustainable transport is unlikely to be achieved in a laissez-faire policy environment, and nor is it likely that it will be resolved by any single solution. Rather, it is likely to require carefully crafted interventions that have a good fit with unique national circumstances, and which will work in an integrated way to achieve change consistently throughout the transport system. The research reported in this paper draws on the situated knowledge and experience of New Zealand transport experts to develop a suite of potential interventions for a sustainable transport future for New Zealand. Drawing on the findings of a four-stage Delphi study, which solicited experts’ views on interventions that could lead to better outcomes than were being achieved by the current policy environment. The paper concludes that a consistent and integrated commitment is required at all levels of governance and across all parts of the transport system to transition away from automobility and towards sustainable mobility.
The concept of ‘resilience’ has recently gained traction in a range of contexts. Its various interpretations and framings are now used to examine a variety of issues, particularly relating to the ...human dimensions of global change. This can pose challenges to scholars, practitioners, and policy-makers seeking to develop focused research programmes, design targeted interventions, and communicate across disciplinary boundaries. The concept of resilience is widely used in Aotearoa-New Zealand, where it informs both government policy and research programmes. Resilience is particularly relevant in this small developed nation, which is heavily reliant on primary production in rural areas and affected by a range of geological and climatic hazards. To understand the range and extent of application of resilience in the rural context, we use systematic review methods to identify, characterise, and synthesise this knowledge base. Currently, research applying the concept of resilience in the rural context is limited in areal extent, largely quantitative in nature, and led by a small number of researchers. There is limited evidence of collaboration. Research has focused on a small number of hazards, failing to capture the diversity of risks and hazards in addition to their impacts. The results of our analysis and methodology offer important insights for meta-analyses of risk and hazard scholarship. The findings provide a baseline to track the future progress and effectiveness of resilience interventions and help inform current and future research priorities targeting persistent vulnerabilities in rural New Zealand and elsewhere.
Transport is frequently cited as one of the most expedient means by which humankind affects Earth's ecosystem. Indeed, as underscored by the Anthropocene proposition, transport-related impacts are ...significant to the point of resulting in alterations of the planet's geological structure. Rising awareness of such issues has led to increasing attention on the priority of achieving a radically decarbonised transport future. However, that vision stands in stark contrast to the aspirations of pro-space advocates who are in the process of initiating an alternate transport future facilitated by greatly increased – and highly carbon-intensive – access to outer space. This rapidly emerging ‘beyond Earth’ transport paradigm enormously expands the spatio-temporal boundaries of human transport and human impact. This article reviews prominent visions of desirable ‘terrestrial’ (Earth-bound) transport futures. We then critically consider the transport futures envisioned by advocates of space development. This enables us to construct a dialectics of two coexisting but sharply contrasting contemporary schools of thought. We identify a highly significant divide, with one set of discourses arguing for reigning in human influence while the other set seeks unfettered expansion. Our analysis indicates fundamental divergences in the assumptions and aims of terrestrial versus space-focussed transport discourses. We conclude that the largely unrecognised and unacknowledged tensions between these contrasting desirable transport futures will be difficult to resolve.
► This manuscript focused on the USA ski industry and examined Ski Resorts Environmental Communications (SRECs) stated on each of 82 resort websites. ► The communications were rated for their ...prominence, breadth and depth based on the environmental categories in the USA Sustainable Slopes Program (SSP) Charter. ► The results provide an assessment of the level of environmentally responsible actions by the ski resorts.
The United Nations (UN) purported that “whenever a person engages in sport there is an impact on the environment” (UN, 2010, n.p.). The purpose of this research was to examine the safeguarding of the natural environment, or environmental sustainability (ES), in sport by studying the level of environmentally responsible actions for ski resorts in the USA. Specifically, this manuscript focused on the USA ski industry and examined Ski Resorts Environmental Communications (SRECs) stated on each of 82 resort websites. The methods included rating these communications for their prominence, breadth and depth based on the environmental categories in the USA Sustainable Slopes Program (SSP) Charter. Based on both these SREC ratings and the grades assigned to each resort by the Ski Area Citizen's Coalition (SACC), the resorts were classified as inactive, exploitive, reactive, or proactive using an adaption of Hudson and Miller's (2005) model. The results provide an assessment of the level of environmentally responsible actions by the ski resorts. Several directions for future research have been brought forward from this study, including the need to examine motivations behind ski resort publications on environmental communications and the likelihood of skiers selecting resorts based on the environmental communications posted on websites. A concentration of research is needed to develop further understandings concerning the contemporary issue of ES in sport.
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