A Human Community on Earth and Beyond: Revisiting the Rationale for Human Spaceflight in the Context of Autonomous Artificial Systems

Abstract

There is a question which, in spite of its relative simplicity, has persistently and elusively remained at the heart of spaceflight - what is the human role in space? It is a question both of purpose and of value, and yet despite its centrality to the project of space, continues to be both divisive and unresolved. As it has been raised over each successive era of the spaceflight program, it has become deeply intertwined with concurrent changes happening in technological development and uncertainties about the functional abilities of increasingly autonomous systems. While the question of the human role in spaceflight is itself not new, it has become both more challenging and more necessary to answer in the present context of advanced artificial intelligence systems and long-duration missions to Mars, which will pose significant challenges to sustaining human life in space. Answering that question appropriately requires understanding how it has been framed throughout the history of spaceflight and critically examining whether that framing is adequately able to resolve the challenges posed by its modern context. This paper begins that task by examining how the rationale for implementing automation in the U.S. and Soviet space programs altered the role of the astronaut by situating human value along an axis of function, creating a perceived dichotomy between human and machine ability. It then examines why that dichotomy has persisted, despite not being an accurate reflection of the deeply integrated relationship between humans and technological systems which is necessitated by the conditions of space. It interrogates whether that dichotomy and the argument of a functional difference between humans and machines is still an appropriate basis for framing conversations about the necessity and value of human participation in spaceflight, via a thorough examination of the abilities of autonomous systems and artificial intelligence systems in particular. The conclusion drawn is not only that the functional argument is no longer relevant, but that it was never able to sufficiently answer why spaceflight is valuable and what the human role in it should be. Those are questions which cannot be answered in reference to function, but must instead be grounded in the ultimate telos - or purpose - of spaceflight itself. This paper articulates that purpose, and demonstrates how it forms the foundation from which to understand both human value in spaceflight and how to negotiate the human-technological relationship as it evolves over the next generation of spaceflight.