Disentangling Atmosphere and Sky: Ontology, Space Debris, and Moral Mattering
Presentation Type
Long presentation (faculty/staff) 15-20 minutes
In Person or Zoom Presentation
In-Person
Campus
Daytona Beach
Status
Faculty
Faculty/Staff Department
Humanities & Communication
Presentation Description/Abstract
Space exploration activities generate novel problems for philosophical consideration. As space activities increasingly populate Earth’s orbital environment with both operating space infrastructure and junk, humanity is faced with new threats. One significant worry is Kessler syndrome, a potential cascade of space debris that could trap humans on Earth while destroying satellite infrastructure. Approaching the growing problem of space debris from the perspective of environmental philosophy reveals a host of additional concerns within environmental ethics, aesthetics, and politics. Adequately considering the effects of increasing space debris, as well as the particular environmental ramifications of such accumulation, requires (re)consideration of ordinarily backgrounded environmental objects – the sky and the atmosphere – for the application and extension of environmental ethics to humanity’s activities in outer space.
Keywords
space debris, sky, atmosphere, environmental ethics, ontology, space ethics, Kessler syndrome
Disentangling Atmosphere and Sky: Ontology, Space Debris, and Moral Mattering
Space exploration activities generate novel problems for philosophical consideration. As space activities increasingly populate Earth’s orbital environment with both operating space infrastructure and junk, humanity is faced with new threats. One significant worry is Kessler syndrome, a potential cascade of space debris that could trap humans on Earth while destroying satellite infrastructure. Approaching the growing problem of space debris from the perspective of environmental philosophy reveals a host of additional concerns within environmental ethics, aesthetics, and politics. Adequately considering the effects of increasing space debris, as well as the particular environmental ramifications of such accumulation, requires (re)consideration of ordinarily backgrounded environmental objects – the sky and the atmosphere – for the application and extension of environmental ethics to humanity’s activities in outer space.