Category Archives: Mars Colonization

Steam Next Fest kicked off earlier this week, and there are tons of indie demos ready for you to download and play.

Steam Next Fest: February 2022 Edition runs through February 28 and alongside demos, developers are taking part in livestreams to discuss their upcoming releases.

There are also chats with the devs themselves, and this will continue for the duration.

There will be demos available for titles such as Flight of Nova, a flight simulation where you pilot spacecraft according to laws of physics; DreadXPs survival horror game with puppets My Friendly Neighborhood; retro action-RPG Souldiers; side-scrolling adventure Little Orpheus from The Chinese Room; cozy organization puzzle game A Little To The Left; and creepy adventure game Beacon Pines.

There's tabletop RPG experience Demeo: PC Edition; casual survival sandbox game Oldowan; the cool-looking village simulation game The Wandering Village; mining sandbox adventure Core Keeper; multiplayer tactical space-based shooter Boundary; bullet hell FPS Scathe; Food Truck Simulator; fast turn-based strategy RPG with real-time combat Hero's Hour; and atmospheric vehicle adventure Far: Changing Tides.

Trail of Ayash is an open world game that focuses on indigenous people and their myths in the Pre-Columbian era; Boundary is a FPS astronaut game; you can try out gothic multiplayer platform brawler Skeleton Crew; Crossfire: Legion is a real time strategy game from the developers behind Homeworld 3; there's god game Fata Deum; you can bring destroyed buildings back to life in WWII Rebuilder; dive into a harrowing ocean abyss and unravel long-forgotten mysteries in Silt; and you can try out the rematered Egyptian city builder Pharaoh: A New Era.

You can also access free demos for these cool-looking games: TFM: The First Men,Conan Chop Chop, Beholder 3, Lost in Fantaland, Farewell North, Super Catboy, Small Saga, and Potion Tycoon.

And that's not even the half of it. So, hop on Steam and download some trials. You never know when you may find your next favorite game.

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Steam Next Fest: February 2022 Edition - here's just some of the demos available - VG247

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Bzier Games recently revealed two new additions coming to the Maglev Metro series of games as we're getting Moonbases and Mars. As seen in the previous Mechs, Monorails, London, and Paris map expansions, these two will take the game in totally new areas as you head into space to create metro lines on the moon and the closest planet that might be able to sustain life. Each version has its own little tweaks, but they roughly play out the same for some fun with friends getting around the planet. No release date was confirmed beyond the fact they're coming out in 2022. Here's some added info from the team about both games.

Moonbases:Magnetic Levitation is the technology of choice for extra-terrestrial transportation, and your job is to build a network of intricate maglev rails to assist in creating a lunar vacation destination!

Mars:Maglev technology has enabled powerful ships arriving at Mars to build a colony there. The thin atmosphere and canals make building tracks a challenge, but the rewards for setting up a launch site to neighboring moons Phobos and Deimos make it all worthwhile!

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Bzier Games Adds Two New Titles To The Maglev Metro Lineup - Bleeding Cool News

HBO Max has got a stellar lineup for March, proving that it really is a premier destination for viewers who love cinema. The streamer has five Oscar nominees for Best Pictureheading its way this month that fans can catch-up on before Hollywoods biggest night on Mar. 27, including Dune, King Richard, West Side Story, Drive My Car, and Nightmare Alley, all of which have received several Academy Award noms.

HBO Max is also getting the Warner Bros. streaming exclusiveMoonshot on March 31, a new fantasy, sci-fi, rom-com starring Lana Condor and Cole Sprouse set to the futuristic backdrop of a terraformed Mars colonized by the best humanity has to offer.

Plus, check out Max Originals this month, including Julia, Lust, The Tourist, Little Ellen, and more.

TITLES COMING TO HBO MAX IN MARCH:Exact Dates to be Announced:Swimsuit, 1989Young Justice, Max Original Season 4 Part BMarch 1:The Aviator, 2004Adaptation, 2002All the Pretty Horses, 2000Are We Done Yet?, 2007Around the World in 80 Days, 1956Blow Up of Blow-Up, DocumentaryBoyz n the Hood, 1991Cameraperson, DocumentaryDiner, 1982Fireboys, DocumentaryFly Away Home, 1996Gigi, 1958Los Cronocrmenes (AKA Timecrimes), 2007 (HBO)Mogul Mowgli, 2020One Tree Hill, 2003Resident Evil, 1996Resident Evil: Afterlife, 2010Resident Evil: Apocalypse, 2004Resident Evil: Damnation, 2021Resident Evil: Extinction, 2007Resident Evil: Retribution, 2012Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation, 2004Starship Troopers, 1997Starsky & Hutch, 1975The Larry David Story Part 1: American Jewboy, Documentary Premiere (HBO)The Larry David Story Part 2: The Jewish Fountainhead Documentary Premiere (HBO)The Two Mrs. Carrolls, 1947The World of Jacques Demy, DocumentaryThe Young Girls Turn 25, DocumentaryUrban Legend, 1998Welcome Back (Aka Bienvenidos), 2019 (HBO)

March 2:Blade I, 2002

Drive My Car, 2021Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma, Season 5

West Side Story, 2021 (HBO)

March 3:Gaming Wall Street, Max Original Season 1 PremiereLittle Ellen, Max Original Season 2 PremiereOur Flag Means Death, Max Original Season 1 PremiereThe Tourist, Max Original Season 1 Premiere

March 4:El Planeta, 2021 (HBO)

F9: The Fast Saga, 2021 (HBO)Goyo: En Letra De Otro, 2022 (HBO)

March 6:Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty, Series Premiere (HBO)

March 7:Teen Titans Go! S7A PremiereMarch 8:Ruxx, Max Original Season 1 PremiereWhose Line Is It Anyway?, Season 1 8

March 10:

Dune, 2021 (HBO)

Juanpa + Chef, Max Original Season 1 PremiereSandy + Chef, Max Original Season 1 PremiereTheodosia, Max Original Season 1 Premiere

March 12:Victor and Valentino S3A Premiere

March 13:Game Theory with Bomani Jones, Season 1 Premiere (HBO)

March 14:Blade Runner: Black Lotus, Season 1

March 15:Phoenix Rising Part 1 & 2, Documentary Premiere (HBO)

March 17:DMZ, Max Original Season 1 PremiereJellystone!, Max Original Season 2 PremiereMinx, Max Original Season 1 Premiere

March 18:Halloween Kills, 2021 (Extended Version) (HBO)Lust, Max Original Season 1 PremiereOn My Way with Irina Rimes, Max Original PremierePseudo, Premiere (HBO)Vlad & Niki, 2018

March 20:Amsterdam, Max Original Season 1 Premiere

March 22:Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel Premiere (HBO)

March 23:Fists Of Freedom: The Story Of The 68 Summer Games 1999,

March 24:

King Richard, 2021

One Perfect Shot, Max Original Season 1 PremiereQueen Stars, Max Original Season 1 PremiereStarstruck, Max Original Season 2 PremiereTraffickers: Inside The Golden Triangle, Max Original Season 1 Premiere

March 25:Degrassi: The Next Generation, 2001Lucas the Spider,Cartoonito OriginalSeason 1 Premiere

March 31:Bren Brown: Atlas of the Heart, Max Original Season 1 PremiereJulia, Max Original Season 1 PremiereMoonshot, 2022

TITLES LEAVING HBO MAX IN MARCH:8 Mile, 2002 (HBO)A Royal Affair, 2012 (HBO)Ballet 422, 2014 (HBO)Best Man Down, 2012 (HBO)Bill And Teds Bogus Journey, 1991 (HBO)Bill And Teds Excellent Adventure, 1989 (HBO)Blindness, 2008 (HBO)Blood Father, 2016 (HBO)Broken City, 2013 (HBO)Client 9: The Rise And Fall Of Eliot Spitzer, 2010 (HBO)Darkness Falls, 2003 (HBO)Dinner For Schmucks, 2010 (HBO)Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, 1988 (HBO)Dr. Dolittle Million Dollar Mutts, 2009 (HBO)Dreamgirls, 2006 (HBO)Drop Zone, 1994 (HBO)Evil Dead 2, 1987 (HBO)Fear, 2005 (HBO)Firestarter, 1984 (HBO)Happily NEver After 2: Snow White, 2009 (HBO)Happily NEver After, 2007 (HBO)Herbie: Fully Loaded, 2005 (HBO)I Am Number Four, 2011 (HBO)Imagine That, 2009 (2009)In & Out, 1997 (HBO)Joe, 2014 (HBO)Johnny English Strikes Again, 2018 (HBO)Kicking & Screaming, 2005 (HBO)La Odisea De Los Giles, 2019 (HBO)Lina From Lima, 2019 (HBO)Marathon Man, 1976 (HBO)Miracle On 34th Street, 1994 (HBO)Moonrise Kingdom, 2012 (HBO)New In Town, 2009 (HBO)Night Catches Us, 2010 (HBO)Norbit, 2007 (HBO)Pepito, 2020 (HBO)Proof Of Life, 2000 (HBO)Slipping Into Darkness, 1971 (HBO)Sliver, 1993 (Extended Version) (HBO)Strange But True, 2019 (HBO)Take Me Home Tonight, 1986 (HBO)Talk To Me, 1985 (HBO)Ted, 2012 (Unrated Version) (HBO)The Bourne Legacy, 2012 (HBO)The Campaign, 2012 (Extended Version) (HBO)The Devils Double, 2011 (HBO)The Eichmann Show, 2015 (HBO)The Evil Dead, 1983 (HBO)The High Note, 2020 (HBO)The King Of Staten Island, 2020 (HBO)The Man With The Iron Fists, 2012 (Unrated Version) (HBO)The Rite, 2011 (HBO)The Running Man, 1987 (HBO)The Serenade, 1939 (HBO)The Watcher, 2000 (HBO)Tully, 2018 (HBO)War, 2007 (HBO)

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Everything Coming and Going on HBO Max in March 2022 - Cord Cutters News, LLC

WHILE Luke Skywalker peered at the two suns of his desert planet pondering his future as a Jedi, scientists peered back into the night sky wondering if such a planet could exist in the known universe and not just in a galaxy far far away.

Scientists have just confirmed that they've found such a planet and it's called Kepler-16b.

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The exoplanet was spotted by a ground-based telescope located at an observatory in southeast France.

Professor Amaury Triaud, who led the team that found Kepler-16b, said: It is difficult to understand how circumbinary planets can exist.

"Thats because the presence of two stars interferes with the protoplanetary disc, and this prevents dust from agglomerating into planets.

Triaud theorized: The planet may have formed far from the two stars, where their influence is weaker, and then moved inwards in a process called disc-driven migration or, alternatively, we may find we need to revise our understanding of the process of planetary accretion.

that do push up against the traditional understanding of planet formation.

In 2019, a high school-aged intern named Wolf Cukier flagged what he thought was an eclipse.

Upon further investigation from his peers working on NASAs Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), it turned out to be the first plant orbiting two stars discovered by the TESS program.

TESS would later discover a planet orbiting three suns in an extremely rare triple-star system.

Exoplanets, planets outside Earths solar system, existed only in theory starting in 1917.

The theory was confirmed in 1992 when astronomers Aleksander Wolszczan and Dale Frail discovered two planets 2,300 lightyears away.

Exoplanet.eu, a running catalog of all confirmed exoplanet discoveries, has nearly 5,000 entries to date.

The two planets Wolszczan and Frail discovered orbit a pulsarthe core of a collapsed star much larger than the Sun that supports the Milky Way.

Three years later, the first exoplanet orbiting a Sun comparable to ours was discovered.

The planet, Pegasi 51 b, experiences temperatures in excess of 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit due to its proximity to its star.

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In other news, a huge explosion on the Sun could have been 'catastrophic' for Earth's power grid, experts have warned.

Elon Musk has long been vocal about his ambitions for colonizing Mars here's everything we know about his plan.

And, astronomers have observed ared giant star dyingin real-time for the first time ever.

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Star Wars exoplanet that gets TWO sunsets a day spotted by astronomers... - The Sun

This March stream an iconic slate of slam-dunk content, award-winning films and critically acclaimed titles debuting on HBO Max.

Celebrating one of the most storied basketball teams of all time,Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty (3/6)will bring fans closer to a team that defined an era, both on and off the court. The 10-episode HBO Original drama series gives an intimate look into the professional and personal lives of the legendary 1980s Los Angeles Lakers, featuring John C. Reilly as Jerry Buss, Quincy Isaiah as Magic Johnson, Jason Clarke as Jerry West Adrien Brody as Pat Riley, among others.

This month we have five Oscar nominees for Best Picture on HBO Max that fans can catch-up on before Hollywoods biggest night.

This month includesthe Warner Bros.streaming exclusiveMoonshot (3/31),a new fantasy, sci-fi, rom-com starring Lana Condor and Cole Sprouse set to the futuristic backdrop of a terraformed Mars colonized by the best humanity has to offer.

HBO and Max Original titles premiering this month deliver a wide array of cultural perspectives. Fans of The French Chef, Julia Child, will learn about the inspiring story behind the modern cooking show and its influence on the womens movementJulia(3/31).For a breakdown of timely issues playing out in the world of sports, Emmy-winning sports journalist Bomani Jones will kick off his weekly late-night seriesGame Theory with Bomani Jones (3/13). Additional highly anticipated originals debuting this month includeOur Flag Means Death (3/3)starring, executive produced and directed by Oscar nominee Taika Waititi, Ava DuVernaysDMZ (3/17), The Tourist (3/3)starring Jamie Dornan,new 1970s LA comedy seriesMinx (3/17)andBrene Brown: Atlas of the Heart (3/31).

HBO Max Renews Peacemaker For A Second Season

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This March Stream Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty And More On HBO Max - Blackfilm

The Museum of the Future in Dubai is a time machine that shows visitors what life could be like in the year 2071.

From futuristic jobs faraway on a space station to how ecosystems can be saved 49 years from now the experience is entertaining as well as educational.

The two-hour experience is meant to be thought-provoking and leaves visitors wondering steps that can be taken now to create a better future.

The museum uses technology to represent art in the most remarkable ways, including screens with impressive graphics of a rocket launch and a DNA library that features more than 4,500 species.

An avatar called Aya guides visitors throughout their journey.

On Wednesday, a day after its official opening, The National went on a media tour of the museum. Here are five of the most interesting displays:

An avatar known as 'Aya' speaks to visitors at the Museum of the Future. Chris Whiteoak / The National

If you want to be an astronaut for a day, this is the experience for you.

It involves boarding a spacecraft called Hope, named after the UAEs Mars orbiter, and launching to the OSS Hope space station 600 kilometres above Earth.

Visitors are taken inside a room with metal walls, designed to look like a spacecraft, with screens all around that act as windows to show the stunning views during lift-off.

Aerial views of Dubais coastline, including The Palm Jumeirah, are visible, and then the delicate atmosphere of the planet, as the spacecraft enters space.

It is a four-minute experience that also shows the spacecraft docking with the OSS Hope space station.

Then, you enter the space station, where you learn about futuristic jobs astronauts can have in future, such as Mars colony ambassador to Earth.

The Heal Institute at the Museum of the Future. Chris Whiteoak / The National

The next part of the experience is the "heal institute", where you learn about nature.

A large screen shows the DNA of the Amazon, with footage actually filmed in the rainforest.

At Heal, we are working to repair the Earths natural ecosystems, with the help of artificial intelligence and biodesign, Aya says, as visitors enter the exhibition.

The Amazon is amazing. The forest generates half of its own rainfall by recycling water through trees.

Sadly, in some parts of the Amazon, years of deforestation have broken this cycle, changing huge parts of this ancient forest to dry savannah.

Another part of the Heal Institute is the DNA library, which has more than 2,400 models of species on display inside glass cases.

The colourful exhibition is meant to help visitors learn about different kinds of mammals, angiosperms, annelids and molluscs.

It is partially immersive, as visitors can collect a few species in a device given to them at the start and use it in the next exhibition to see how it could heal the ecosystem.

This is the Heal Observatory, where some species are grown in a nursery.

Visitors can release these species into the outdoors, including the ones collected in their device from the DNA library, to see how they behave and if the ecosystem heals.

It is an educational exhibition that would benefit researchers, as well as students and teachers.

Once the species are released, a large screen shows the progress being made in that ecosystem.

Al Waha is a futuristic spa, where visitors experience restorative effects of movement and meditation.

Visitors are welcomed with a vapour hand sanitiser that is blowing out of a structure that looks like a futuristic water fountain.

There is also a digital floor with a special carpet that gives the illusion of walking on a beach.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid inaugurated Dubai's Museum of the Future on Tuesday night. Photos: Dubai Media Office

Updated: February 23rd 2022, 4:54 PM

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Five stunning displays inside Dubai's Museum of the Future - The National

Few shows defined an era like Martin. From music to movies to fashion, the iconic sitcom was not only abroad mainstream hit, it was a cultural force that went beyond the screen and epitomized an era. The show was a crossover sensation all while providing an honest and refreshing view of the Black experience and to this day, the characters, all created by the comedic genius of the shows namesake, Martin Lawrence, are still some of pop cultures most beloved. Thirty years later, its legacy lives on, and this summer, fans will be able to relive all the love, joy and laughter as Martin and the gang come together once again for the first time in decades.

The reunion special, hosted by comedian and actor Affion Crockett, will include Martin Lawrence (Martin), Tisha Campbell (Gina), Tichina Arnold (Pamela) and Carl Anthony Payne II (Cole), along with surprise guest appearances. Taking a look at the shows origin and evolution, the reunion will feature interviews with the cast, original directors, special musical performances, and behind the scenes commentary on the importance and impact of the show that shaped a generation.

Martin is one of the most beloved sitcoms in our community, both because it is hugely entertaining and because it played a pivotal role in changing the narrative of Black voices in entertainment and in culture through the portrayal of young, ambitious Black leads and healthy Black relationships, said Scott Mills, CEO of BET. Decades later, that representation is still just as important, which is why were so excited to honor a series that put Black culture front and center on our platform that embraces Black culture everyday.

To be able to sit here thirty years later with this amazing cast that has had such an impact on pop culture is truly a blessing. I am always humbled that the fans still want more of the show and its characters. I am looking forward to the reunion special. said Martin Lawrence.

Martin is one of the greatest sitcoms of all time, said Jesse Collins, CEO of Jesse Collins Entertainment.JCE is honored to partner with Martin and BET on such an iconic reunion.

The reunion is executive produced by Martin Lawrence, Robert Lawrence, Rae Proctor and Stacy Lyles through his company Run Tel Dat Entertainment. For Jesse Collins Entertainment, Jesse Collins and Dionne Harmon serve as executive producers along with Jeannae Rouzan-Clay who is also the showrunner. The show is executive produced and directed by Stan Lathan. The special is written by Nile Evans as well as Bentley Kyle Evans who also serves as a co-executive producer. Jesse Collins Entertainments Brittany Brazil is a producer.

The taping took place Sunday, February 20 and will launch on BET+ later this year. In the meantime, fans can get ready for the reunion by re-watching all five seasons of Martin now on BET+.

Jacob LatimoreandSerayah Featured in BET Digitals New Black Love Series MILLENNIAL LOVE STORIES

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Iconic Sitcom 'MARTIN' Returns For A 30th Anniversary Reunion Special on BET+ - Blackfilm

By Jacco van Loon, Astronomer, Keele UniversityOf the eight planets in the Solar System, we live on Earth, and for good reasons. It has the perfect conditions for life.

Right now, though, we are sculpting Earth's surface by deforestation, and changing its atmosphere by adding carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gases. These changes have resulted in global warming, which might lead us to worry that in the future, Earth may not be such a good place for us to live.

In our Solar System, the most similar planets to Earth are Mars, which is a bit further from the Sun, and Venus, which is a bit closer to the Sun. However, they are still very different to Earth.

There are a lot of ways in which these planets are different to Earth. One is the gases that are in the atmosphere. Both the atmosphere of Mars and that of Venus are mainly made of carbon dioxide. Neither planet's atmosphere contains any amounts of oxygen to speak of, which means that right now, we wouldn't be able to breathe on either planet.

Mars is generally considered the most promising planet to terraform. However, as well as being made mostly of carbon dioxide, the atmosphere on Mars is very thin. It doesn't press down on the planet with the same weight that the atmosphere on Earth does.

This pressure from the atmosphere is what keeps water on Earth liquid so we can drink it, and plants can use it to grow. Nearly all of the water on Mars is ice, except for a bit of water vapour in the atmosphere.

In order to create an atmosphere that we could breathe in, and to create enough pressure to keep water liquid, we would need to pump a lot of air into Mars' atmosphere a mixture of nitrogen and oxygen until the atmosphere was about as heavy as Earth's.

It might be possible to find this nitrogen and oxygen on Mars, which has soil that has been found to contain significant amounts of nitrate a molecule of one nitrogen and three oxygen atoms.

But there would be problems with doing this, including taking nutrients out of the soil that might be needed to grow plants.

Mars is also a very cold place, with an average temperature of about -60 degrees Celsius.

To change this, we would need to help its atmosphere trap heat. This is called the greenhouse effect. We could do this by pumping more carbon dioxide and methane into it (methane has been found on Mars). This would warm Mars and melt much of its ice, creating a water cycle like in Earth's climate. Mars would have seas, rivers and rainfall like Earth.

Mars or Venus?Alternatively, we could think about terraforming Venus. The gravity of Venus is quite similar to that on Earth, but for reasons not fully understood it has an atmosphere almost a hundred times heavier than Earth's. The weight of the atmosphere pressing down on us would crush us.

To reduce the weight of the atmosphere on Venus to be more like Earth's atmosphere, we would need to remove the carbon dioxide and some of the nitrogen.

Unfortunately, if we knew how to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere on such massive scale, we would be better off doing that on Earth in order to slow down global warming.

Mars and Venus have reached a natural state that differs from Earth's. If we turn them into Earth-like planets it means taking them out of balance. Left alone, they would change again. A terraformed Mars or Venus would require constant effort to maintain.

It would be far simpler and easier to build an artificial space colony, big enough to hold a whole ecosystem made up of plants, animals and other forms of life. We could then even possibly travel to another star system, where we might find a planet more like Earth. But we do not have the ability to do this, yet.

Until then, the best kind of terraforming would be to reduce humankind's imprint on Earth.

(This article is syndicated by PTI from The Conversation)

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Could we change other planets in the Solar System so we could live on them? - Economic Times

If anyone is as bullish on the new frontier as China, it is the billionaires. Their ambitions, too, should spur NASA to stay in the game. Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk might or might not be visionaries, but they are easily the most powerful people on this planet to speak with a straight face about colonizing other ones. Mr. Musk warns of an extinction event that will require us to leave Earth behind. There is a certain egalitarianism in the idea of an escape hatch for humanity, though it is the egalitarianism of rats leaving a sinking (or overheating) ship. It would have to get pretty bad down here before ordinary people follow the billionaires into the black void of space rather than bid them adieu. Mr. Musks product placement of a Tesla in orbit and Mr. Bezos postflight performance in his cowboy hat leave one wary of their motives and nostalgic for the military bearing of Glenn. If space travel lost its novelty in the early 1970s, it might now be in the process of losing its dignity.

Of course, this takes nothing away from the achievements of Mr. Musks aerospace company, SpaceX. Rarely in any industry has such boldness of imagination been matched by such brilliance in execution. The company is an indispensable partner to NASA; a SpaceX landing system will carry astronauts to and from the moons surface.

But there is an essential difference between exploration and colonization, and both are a far cry from commercialization. Left to the billionaires, space is less likely to become a haven for humanity than a playground for its wealthiest members. In that event, there will be no more John Glenns no more astronauts to look up to and emulate, astronauts whose humility and awe in the vastness of space define them as much as their bravery does.

The exploration of space will go ahead, whether we join in it or not, Kennedy said in 1962 at Rice University, warning that no nation which expects to be the leader of other nations can expect to stay behind in this race for space. Perhaps this logic has lost its power; perhaps Americans dont care if the billionaires and China have the moon to themselves. The idea of space as a new frontier, too, might be tired, overworked. (During the Super Bowl, a Salesforce ad dismissed it with an Eh.) But the thrilling discoveries by Perseverance the evidence of ancient Martian river deltas and lava flows give eloquent testimony to the mysteries that await on the frontier. Robots like these are stunningly capable. Still, they cannot invent or imagine; they cannot drive the process of discovery in space any more than they do here on Earth. Only humans can lead, and to lead, humans must go.

Science is simply the exploration of the unknown, James Head, a planetary geologist at Brown who helped train the Apollo astronauts, told me, adding that the moon is unknown. Mars is unknown. Perhaps this is what NASA should say, and without apology: We dont know what well find. We dont know what the moon and Mars can tell us about the origins of the universe and life on Earth and possibly beyond it. And that, above all, is the reason for going. Six days after his return to Earth, Glenn addressed a joint meeting of Congress. What benefits are we gaining from the money spent? he asked, acknowledging that it was too early to say. But exploration and the pursuit of knowledge, he said, have always paid dividends in the long run usually far greater than anything expected at the outset. Why bother? This is why.

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Opinion | Dont Cede the Space Race to China and the Billionaires - The New York Times

At its best, futurist thinking represents a flourishing of the human imagination. Emboldened by the invention of new technologies, artists at the turn of the twentieth century envisioned a world largely free of everyday toil, in which the work of machines would allow ordinary people to live fuller and happier lives without the grinding poverty and tedium associated with industrialization. This vision may have reflected a kind of misplaced techno-utopianism, but it was also a genuine expression of progressive thinking in a world of growing class consciousnesses and democratic militancy.

Today, what passes for futurist optimism is often more a sign of civilizational paralysis and economic stagnation the increasingly absurd billionaire space race offering us a counterfeit vision of utopian promise in the form of climate-destroying vanity flights and dystopian fanfiction about Martian colonies. Unlike earlier iterations of futurism, this plutocrat-manufactured version substitutes the transcendence of earthly inequalities for their extension into the solar system, imagining a century of space exploration planned and carried out by a tiny handful of the worlds wealthiest people. This makes sense insofar as it reflects both the prevailing logic of a top-heavy and decadent global economy and a political order incapable of accommodating real alternatives to the status quo. When a system looks exhausted but reforming it also seems impossible, the only option left is to scale up and hope it yields a better result.

Something like this is at least the implicit premise of a new report from the neoliberal Adam Smith Institute entitled Space Invaders: Property Rights on the Moon, which mounts a Lockean case for the ownership of land off-world. To researcher Rebecca Lowes credit, the argument is intellectually quite rigorous and represents a philosophically consistent application of classical liberal thinking. Noting that earlier, more universalist frameworks for the exploration of space feel less viable today than they did in the 1950s or 60s, Lowe proceeds to consider an approach that is neither nationally or globally based and would instead see individuals to attain morally-justified property rights in space.

Shes certainly correct that anything resembling the egalitarian vision of space once represented in the popular imagination by something like Star Trek looks decidedly more distant in a world of transnational competition and disempowered nation states. Shes also right to recognize that the codification of rules and regulations surrounding interstellar colonization are bound to be complex and also that debates about them will inevitably reflect unresolved disputes about the design of existing human societies.

In true libertarian fashion, the case for property rights is asserted as axiomatic and advanced as fundamentally egalitarian in spirit. Moral property rights, Lowe writes, are rights that simply reflect truths about morality, and which do not depend on positive law. While democratic nations, she argues, may be in a position to share fairly amongst their citizens the opportunities of the national appropriation of space, the existence of authoritarian societies means some will be unable to reap the off-world bounty:

Under such [national] approaches, for instance, if democratic Country A was newly allowed to appropriate a certain amount of space land, then separable parts of this amount could, for instance, be made up for grabs amongst competing citizens, on fair terms. But the same could not be expected from authoritarian regimes. There is an egalitarian argument, therefore, that the arbitrary oppression of opportunity that some individuals already face simply by being born in, or otherwise inhabiting, particular countries should not be further entrenched by a nation-focused approach to the governance of space opportunities.

Ethically speaking, its not a bad argument. Having basic egalitarian commitments, after all, implies not wanting people to be disadvantaged by the circumstances of their birth or subject to what Lowe calls arbitrary oppression of opportunity or otherwise. The irony is that market societies have such oppression built-in by design, and that modern apologists for inequality regularly invoke property rights as the preeminent justification for not eliminating it. According to this line of thinking, properly functioning markets offer everyone the same opportunities to own and to compete.

The problem, of course, is that they do nothing of the kind. Market societies are, by definition, also class societies in which a comparatively small few own and a much larger group must earn subsistence through wage labor. The latter group produces, while the former extracts rents and skims the surplus value. In lieu of radical measures like the complete abolition of inherited wealth from one generation to the next, equality of opportunity is a total mirage and markets inevitably yield social relations defined by entrenched domination.

This obviously has profound implications on its own. But its also relevant if were considering hypothetical frameworks for the future use of space. What is presently called private space exploration, after all, is in practice the domain of a few exorbitantly wealthy billionaires, and theres no particular reason to think that would change with the extension of property rights onto the Moon.

Putting aside the question of whether lunar colonization will ever be viable or commercially profitable to begin with, the inherent asymmetries in global capitalism mean that any realistic version of it will simply project structural inequality into the heavens: a small few among those who are already rich will own and profit, while others will work and attempt to subsist. (One clue in this regard was offered by none other than Elon Musk when he was asked about the high costs of transport to Mars. His answer? That those unable to afford the price of a trip could take out loans and pay them off by toiling in Martian sweatshops upon arrival.) Equality of opportunity under a system of lunar property rights is thus every bit as mythical as its earthly equivalent.

Rigorous and systematic as it is, Lowes proposal therefore suffers from a broader problem inflecting much of what passes for futurist thinking today: namely, that it remains bound up in the logics of the very status quo it promises to transcend. While virtually every era struggles to see beyond its own horizons, what the late Mark Fisher called capitalist realism arguably makes ours unique in this respect. From billionaire-led space exploration to cryptocurrency to the so-called Metaverse, the various technologies and schemes currently claiming the futurist mantle are so inexorably constrained by their allegiance to capital that they are ultimately strained of emancipatory potential.

Plutocracy is bad enough on earth. If humanity ever does expand into the heavens, lets hope its in a future that has left billionaires and class hierarchies far behind.

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Keep Capitalists Off the Moon - Jacobin magazine