Yet another example of progressive thinking actually being regressive.
The College Fix reports:
Virginia Tech academic: Stop sending humans into space — it’s ‘imperialist’Yet another university academic is warning about continued human space exploration due to its “imperialist mindset.”Savannah Mandel, a PhD candidate at Virginia Tech and an “outer space anthropologist,” adds to what seems to be a trendy argument about investigations into outer space.According to Virginia Tech News, Mandel’s book “Ground Control: An Argument for the End of Human Space Exploration” argues that “rushing to send more humans to space […] mirrors an imperialist mindset that harms Earth’s humanity and environment.”Mandel (pictured) said the space industry is “highly bureaucratic, highly politicized, and highly technical,” and the more she learned the more she began to question the utility of continued manned space operations.She said she wants a “systemic change” in human-led space efforts, one of which is “the inclusion of more social scientists” at NASA and elsewhere.Mandel noted that when she worked at Spaceport America she would “list all the pop stars going on Virgin Galactic flights,” but would also note the “poverty statistics for the local area.”“It was such a stark contrast,” she said. “When I went to [Washington] D.C., and started working in space policy and science writing, I saw how militarized space exploration was and how colonial the rhetoric was around it.”When looking at space-related/technology companies and organizations, Mandel said she asks “What is influencing this? Who is influencing this? What beliefs and values have gone into this?”
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY