Description
Implementing new regulations into the existing everyday practices of different stakeholders is often challenging. One pragmatic approach is to build on reliable and rigorous evidence to help guide the process. But not everything in space is well understood and implementing regulations with limited underlying evidence can lead to disputes. One imminent example is the (unknown) impact of disposing of spacecrafts on the moon’s surface at their end of their working life. Should we wait until we have reliable scientific evidence - that could take years - or until negative (unforeseen) impacts are observed, when it may be too late to reverse any damage.
We discuss the wider ethics and potential trade-offs between space exploration and astronomy/planetary science. Drawing on current discussions of disposal options for spacecrafts re-entering Earth’s atmosphere - we ask:
* How do we effectively implement regulations in this type of scenario - and can/should we?
