当人类探索地外星球时，那些星球上的土著会怎么想？

2020-6-11 20:23:14

昆山杜克大学

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昆山杜克大学

作者：顾磊（Craig McIntosh）

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权威天体生物学家大卫·格林斯彭博士（Dr. David Grinspoon）称，中国在月球背面使种子成功发芽，向人类在其他星球的生存迈进了一步。

大卫·格林斯彭博士是美国行星科学研究所（Planetary Science Institute）的资深科学家、美国国家航空航天局（NASA）顾问以及著名作家。最近，大卫·格林斯彭博士在昆山杜克大学的演讲中特别提到嫦娥四号在今年一月份的首次月球背面探测之旅，视之为在地球之外扩散生命体的可能性全球研究中意义重大的一步。

昆山杜克大学

大卫·格林斯彭博士做客昆山杜克大学

1月18日，中国国家航天局证实，棉花种子已经在月球探测器上的“园地”中长出嫩芽，这标志着人类首次在其他星球上成功种植生命体。

大卫·格林斯彭博士说：“人类此前在国际空间站上种植过植物，但在另一个星球表面的植物种植还是历史首次。这些种子未存活太久，但它们确实成功发芽了。”

“考虑到人类终将前往其他星球生活的可能性，除非我们学会在其他星球上种植植物，否则就无法实现。所以，这是朝着这个方向迈出的一小步。”

昆山杜克大学

央视新闻频道

从1月3日到1月13日，载荷罐内相机共计拍摄了200多张照片，可以清晰地观察到棉花发芽的过程。

大卫·格林斯彭博士认为，没有人类，地球上的植物无法到达遥远的星球。反之，没有植物，人类也无法在其他星球生存。他说：“人类作为动物的进化与地球上植物的进化息息相关；没有植物就没有我们的今天。人类无法独自在其他星球生存。如果我们想在火星上生活，而不仅仅是去参观，我们必须学会如何建立自我维持的生态栖息地。换句话说，我们必须模拟地球上的生态环境。”

大卫·格林斯彭博士的此次演讲“天体生物学和地球及地球以外的人类角色”由昆山杜克大学人文研究中心的全球伦理与人工智能实验室策划组织。

昆山杜克大学

天体生物学着眼于宇宙中生命的潜力，将对其他星球的探索与地球的生命历史研究结合起来，以确定生命还会在哪里发育成长，以及我们如何在太空中寻找这样的地方。

大卫·格林斯彭博士在演讲之后，与昆山杜克大学的师生就太空探索进行了讨论，谈到了嫦娥四号上的“园地”等实验所带来的意义和伦理争论。

根据中国国家航天局的说法，在实验结束时，月球上生长出的棉花幼苗死亡了——夜幕降临后，月球表面的温度骤降至零下100摄氏度以下——死亡后的幼苗会在封闭的罐子里分解。

在回答一名本科生关于潜在污染的问题时，大卫·格林斯彭博士指出：“月球上的环境如此恶劣，以至于没有任何地球生物能够逃脱出去，开始进化并独立生活。我们对月球及其情况有足够的了解，因此我们可以确信不会有任何潜在的污染后果。”

然而，在距离地球最近的邻居之一火星上进行类似的实验将会面临更多争议。

昆山杜克大学

大卫·格林斯彭博士警告说：“在火星上，有可能会发生同样的事情；种子会死去，辐射会杀死它们，什么也不会发生。但是在火星这样的环境中，我们还不能百分之一百地确定这些种子不会继续生存下去，所以从伦理上来说，这个问题更加棘手。”

目前，行星保护规则——这是由全球太空强国所签署的国际协议——禁止在火星上潜在的生命支持区域进行任何探索，比如表面附近有液态水的区域。这些规则的存在不仅是为了防止可能影响土著微生物和科学成果的前向污染，也是为了防止返航污染，比如将一些危险的生命体带回地球，可能会毁灭人类。

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Pixabay

然而，即使有明确的指导方针可以遵循，探索未知总是伴随着破坏土著物种的风险，对探索定居在其他星球的人们提出了伦理问题。

大卫·格林斯彭博士指出：“很多人希望我们前往火星定居，如果我们要这样做，我们必须带上很多其他的生命形式。因此，随着我们越来越接近这种可能性，我们将不得不应对这些伦理问题。”

“对我来说，我们越是相信一个地方没有生命，不能靠自身支持生命体存活，那么在伦理上的挑战就越小。你可以争论，我们是否应该送人去火星定居，但是随着我们越来越了解这个星球，我们会伤害土著生命体的可能性变得越来越小。”

可能会加速伦理挑战的一个领域是大量私人资本已经开始进入太空产业。诸如埃隆·马斯克的SpaceX、中国的民营航天公司零壹空间（OneSpace）、星际荣耀（iSpace）以及理查德·布兰森旗下的维珍银河等公司正在太空领域进行大量的投资，将太空轨道旅游和物流活动视为潜在的利润引擎。

昆山杜克大学

SpaceX

18年2月6日，SpaceX 在肯尼迪航天中心发射了一枚猎鹰重型运载火箭，将一辆红色特斯拉电动跑车送入太空。

“如果一些亿万富翁决定前往火星，他们可不会遵循任何人的伦理准则，而谁能阻止他们？”大卫·格林斯彭博士说。“这事关重大。我不知道这些私营太空探索者们是否会遵守这些规则，或者是否会同样关心行星保护。但话说回来，可能他们也会遵守现有的规则。这是新的领域。私营太空运营商有实力进入太空的时间并不长，但很快就会出现这种情况。”

“我认为火星不会那么容易被污染；我认为火星上可能没有生命……但制定行星保护规则是件好事，因为我们可能会预估错误。”

昆山杜克大学

英文原文

China’s success in germinating seeds on the far side of the moon has taken humankind a step closer to being able to survive on other planets, according to leading astrobiologist Dr. David Grinspoon.

During a recent talk at Duke Kunshan University, the American scientist and celebrated author highlighted the Chang’e 4 mission in January as a milestone for global research into the possibilities of spreading life beyond Earth.

China’s national space agency confirmed on Jan. 18 that cotton seeds had sprouted in a “garden” on the moon probe, marking the first time humans have grown live matter on another planet.

“Plants have been grown in space before, at the international Space Station, but never on the surface of another world,” said Grinspoon, senior scientist at the Planetary Science Institute in the United States and a NASA adviser. “The seeds didn’t last long, but they were successfully germinated.

“Thinking about the possibility of humans eventually trying to go and live on other worlds, we will not succeed in doing that unless we learn to grow plants elsewhere. So this is a baby step in that direction.”

Plants cannot make it to distant planets without humans, and vice versa, he said.

“Our evolution as animals is tied to the evolution of plants on this planet; we wouldn’t be here today without plants. You can’t go it alone. If we want to go to Mars to live, not just to visit, we’ll have to learn how to build self-sustaining, ecological habitats. In other words, we have to create a simulation of what we have here on Earth.”

Grinspoon’s talk, on “Astrobiology and the Role of Humans on Earth and Beyond,” was organized by the Planetary Ethics and Artificial Intelligence Lab, part of Duke Kunshan’s Humanities Research Center.

Astrobiology looks at the potential for life in the universe, and combines exploration of other planets with a study of the history of life on Earth in order to determine where else life may thrive, and how we can go about finding it.

After his talk on Jan. 21, Grinspoon took part in a discussion on space exploration with Duke Kunshan students and faculty, where he expanded on the implications and ethical debate that stem from such experiments as Chang’e 4’s “garden.”

The cotton shoots grown on the moon died when the experiment was ended – the temperature on the lunar surface plummets well below minus 100 C after nightfall – and they will decompose in enclosed canisters, according to the space agency.

“It’s such a harsh environment on the moon that no Earth life can escape and start evolving and live on its own. We know enough about the moon and its conditions, so we can be confident there will be no aftermath,” Grinspoon said, in response to an undergraduate student’s question about potential contamination.

Carrying out a similar experiment on Mars, one of Earth’s closest neighbors, would be more controversial, however.

“Chances are the same thing would happen; the seeds would die, the radiation would kill them and nothing would happen. But you’re getting closer to an environment where we can’t be 100 percent sure that they wouldn’t go on and survive, so it’s ethically more tricky,” Grinspoon warned.

For now, planetary protection rules – international agreements signed by the world’s space powers – forbid any exploration in potentially life-supporting areas of Mars, such as areas with liquid water near the surface. The rules are there to not only prevent forward contamination, which could affect indigenous organisms and scientific results, but also back contamination like bringing something dangerous back to Earth that could wipe out humanity.

Yet even with clear guidelines to follow, exploring the unknown always comes with the risk of disrupting indigenous species, throwing up ethical questions for humans looking to inhabit other worlds.

“A lot of people want us to go live on Mars, and if we’re going to do that we’d have to bring a lot of other lifeforms with us. So as we move closer to this possibility, we’re going to have to grapple with ethical questions,” the scientist said.

“To me, the more we become convinced that a place is lifeless and not able to support life on its own, then the less ethically challenging it is. You can argue whether we should or shouldn’t send people to Mars, but the idea that we’re going to harm indigenous life becomes less likely as we learn more.”

One factor that could accelerate the ethical challenge is the huge amount of private capital that has started to flow into the space industry. Companies such as Elon Musk’s SpaceX, OneSpace and iSpace in China, and Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic are investing heavily in the sector, with orbital tourism and logistic activities seen as potential profit engines.

“If some billionaire decides they want to go to Mars and they’re not going to follow anyone else’s ethical guidelines, who can stop them?” Grinspoon said. “It’s concerning. I don’t know if the private space explorers will honor those rules or be as concerned. But then again, maybe they will. It’s new territory. It’s not been the case for very long that private operators could go into space, but it’s going to be the case soon.

“I don’t think it’s going to be that easy to contaminate Mars. I think Mars is probably lifeless. ... But it’s good that we have these planetary protection rules because we could be wrong.”