A short op ed by long time space writer, advocate, organizer Rick Tumlinson. A metaphor about humanity reaching adulthood through space travel (not all that original – I remember Aurther C Clake making similar analogies). But this part reminded me of a conversation I had with ER here about the wasteful decommissioning of ISS.
…The throwaway culture that defined our early ventures into space cannot survive in an environment where waste is a death sentence.
The same principles must apply to our habitats. Maturity means planning and building life for the long term.
Our early steps into space were littered with waste — disposable technologies, single-use rockets, and discarded dreams. We cannot afford such wastefulness in the unforgiving environments we aim to inhabit. Moving from a play stage to a stay stage demands robust, reliable, and reusable systems. Permanence, not obsolescence, must be our guiding principle.
Space stations and planetary outposts must be designed to last, their components recycled and repurposed. For example, the notion of intentionally destroying something as complex as a space station — burning it up in Earth’s atmosphere — will one day be seen as primitively short-sighted.
The “expendable” space program is unsustainable. That outdated model must give way to one driven by resourcefulness. Every wire, every ounce of material, every molecule of air must be precious. Recycling, repurposing, and reusing are not optional; they are the foundation of life beyond Earth.