NSS Statement of Philosophy

Survival — Of Human Species and Earth’s Biosphere

1. 1. It is the nature of every form of life, whether animal or plant, to strive to survive.
      1. Survival of the Human Species
         The human species is encountering increased natural, man-made, and extraterrestrial threats, including disease, resource depletion, pollution, urban violence, terrorism, nuclear war, asteroids, and comets.
      2. Survival of Earth’s Biosphere
         Many forms of animal and plant life on Earth are suffering increased loss of population and quality habitat because of the growing presence of humans on planet Earth, via expansion, pollution, deforestation, fishing, farming, mining, and promotion of certain species of animals and plants.Space technology provides both means to monitor threats to life on Earth and ways to help curtail them. Space industrialization and settlement provide safety valves to relieve the pressures that cause Earth-bound threats. They also provide escape routes in case of catastrophic man-made or extraterrestrial threats. Humanity has inherited the stewardship of the planet Earth. It will therefore need the vast resources of outer space to reverse the damage it has caused to the Earth’s biosphere, and ultimately enhance all life on Earth.
   2. Growth — Unlimited Room for Expansion
      It is the nature of every form of life, whether animal or plant, to grow and multiply.
      1. New Habitats for Life
         The human species, as well as all other animal and plant life on Earth, needs room to grow and multiply. Earth has a finite supply of land, air, and water, for which humans, animals, and plants must compete. Of all Earth species, only humans have or can acquire and utilize the knowledge to create new habitats on other worlds or in space from the raw materials of moons and asteroids.
      2. New Frontiers for Humanity
         To provide the human species with a new “frontier” for exploration and adventure, and to thought and expression, culture and art, and modes of government. The opening of “the New World” to western civilization brought about an unprecedented 500-year period of growth and experimentation in science, technology, literature, music, art, recreation, and government (including the development and gradual acceptance of democracy). The presence of a frontier led to the development of the “open society” founded on the principles of individual rights and freedoms. Many of these rights and freedoms are being placed under increasingly stringent limitations as human population grows and humanity moves towards a “closed society”, where eventually everyone eats the same, speaks the same, and dresses the same. “Cultures that do not explore, die!”
   3. Prosperity — Unlimited Resources
      It is the nature of the human species to strive to improve the quality of its many lives and to provide a better future for its children.
      1. Improved Standards of Living
         To provide humanity with the resources it needs to improve the quality of life for all humans on the planet Earth. The majority of humanity lives at an economic level that is far below that of the Western democracies. Outer space holds virtually limitless amounts of energy and raw materials, which can be harvested for use both on Earth and in space. Quality of life can be improved directly by utilization of these resources and also indirectly by moving hazardous and polluting industries and/or their waste products off planet Earth.
      2. Economic Opportunity
         To provide every human individual with the opportunity to improve the well being of himself or herself, and his or her family. Vast new resources must be developed if all persons are to be given economic opportunities for themselves and their children even marginally equal to what many would consider a minimally tolerable standard of living.
      3. Technological Development
         To provide remote locations for the development, testing, and “perfection” of promising, but potentially hazardous technologies, such as biological experimentation; nuclear, fusion, chemical and antimatter power generation; and space propulsion. Such developmental facilities could be placed either in space or on other worlds far from both space settlements and unrelated facilities.
   4. Curiosity — The Quest for Knowledge
      It is the nature of the human species to learn more about its origins, its past, its fellow life forms, its environment, its limitations, and its possibilities for the future. Earth is but a tiny container of knowledge compared to the entire incredibly vast universe. “We are part of the universe, through our eyes, ears and minds, the universe may know itself.”