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Living among the stars has long been a dream of humanity.  But as we begin to step off this Earth and colonize other planets, many will argue: do we deserve a second chance? With climate change, over-exploitation of natural resources, and man-made ecological problems on this planet, we should stop and wonder – what can we do to protect the next planet we step onto?  What comprises our new canon of space ethics?

Today, our guest is Dr. Tony Milligan, a teaching fellow in the Theology and Religious Studies Department at Kings College, London. Tony is an expert of space ethics and wrote a book Nobody Owns the Moon – the Ethics of Space Exploitation. He wonders about how we can go about exploring space while preserving its integrity. From mining to colonization, Tony and I discuss how we can preserve the environment in space. How can we successfully, economically, and ethically mine an asteroid? Who owns the rights to mine Helium-3 from the moon?  How can we protect any alien life we encounter on other planets?  Can (and should) we try to transform the surface of a planet for our own benefit through terraforming?