The Motivation for the Sustainable Life Ship:

CurtisV. Manning¹, Christopher P. McKay²

February 15, 2019

The Anthropoceneis the recently named current geological age of Earth, in which human activity is acknowledged to be the dominant influence on the climate and the environment. It represents a crisis of our own creation. While it is, on the one hand, a tragedy of enormous proportions, it is good to know that it is our responsibility since we can do something about it. The crisis is largely caused by the use of fossil fuels. The added energy in the system from greenhouse gases is the cause of the extremes of climate change.

We are at a transitional stage in our development as a species; behind us lies our childhood, in which we cared not what wreckage resulted from our clamoring for power and wealth . We will attain maturity when we acknowledge the cumulative effects of our actions and act to make life sustainable on Earth again.

Biosphere 2 (B2; 1991-1993) was the first modern experiment in sustainability. Biosphere 1 is of course the Earth. Some consider B2 to be a prototype space colony (e.g., Nelson et al., 1992)³. To advance our knowledge of what it will take to make life on Earth sustainable, and to help garner the political will to act, we propose building a third biosphere – not on Earth, but in Earth orbit. We call it the Sustainable Life Ship (SLS). It would contain a functional biosphere capable of supporting a crew of 15 to 30. humans The SLS is a highly practical experiment in sustainability. Its design and construction would present many challenges, not all of which may be anticipated. Only by undertaking this challenge would the aperture be opened on the questions we must face.

The ship would be assembled in Earth orbit, attached to the International Space Station (ISS). But once the mechanical ship is completed and its biosphere has achieved a sustainable balance, the connection can be cut and the Life Ship will be free to explore the solar system on missions lasting decades or more.

In building the Sustainable Life Ship, we would demonstrate how sustainability can be achievfed on Earth. The time-scale for equilibria in the SLS is from 100 to 1000 times shorter than for Earth³. Thus, lessons learned quickly on SLS can be applied to Earth for the long-term. This powerful lesson for humanity could give hope for the future, pointing the way to a sustainable Earth.

For space to be truly habitable for humans, the ship must provide all human needs (Lockard, 2015)⁴, from gravity to meaningful work, fresh food, recreation, fellowship, and unstructured wilderness. Space “biospherians” must remain fully active during their long voyages in space, managing the biosphere and the ship, doing astronomical observations, and obtaining sample returns of asteroids and planetoids. It is anticipated that it would function much like a village in space.

To help acquire the political power to realize this project, the planning and construction of the ship should be a truly international and interdisciplinary effort. By working together on this single, grand project, the nations of the world would be unified behind a common purpose. Furthermore, scientists of many disciplines, from the life sciences, the sociological and psychological disciplines, to hard physics and engineering, would be needed to design and build the SLS. Working together on this project would serve to unify the disciplines and further integrate our knowledge. By committing ourselves to this project, we put ourselves on course to becoming a truly mature race; proper stewards of our planet and worthy, perhaps, of interstellar travel.

There is a way forward, but it must not sacrifice one group to help another when it damages the whole. Each species fills a role; we are all members of the family called Life. The "lower" forms of life were once the vanguard, and now serve as a foundation on which our life depends. We cannot forsake our "Family" without losing ourselves. In pursuit of sustainability, we honor our Family and ourselves.

By embracing sustainability in its broadest terms, we become truly responsible for life on Earth. The construction and deployment of the Sustainable Life Ship is one way in which we would study the problems facing us on Earth; the crew would learn to work together, and find the solutions to the problem of sustainability in orbit, as a way to guide us in living sustainably on Earth. The SLS could then become an instrument of discovery, as we begin to expand our presence into the broader universe beyond Earth. Space exploration is a viable path for us, for humanity's exploratory spirit must not be confined to the Earth while our telescopes are even now hunting for viable "Earths" in the surrounding galactic neighborhood.

This Sustainable Life Ship can satisfy both the needs of the immediate present and the far future. Neither should be denied us.