Ian Crawford makes the scientific and cultural case

The UK is currently in the process of reviewing its future space policy. The Parliamentary Select Committee on Science and Technology has recently issued a key report on this subject,1 and the UK Space Exploration Working Group established by the British National Space Centre (BNSC) is expected to produce another early in September.
 
The context for much of this activity is the Global Exploration Strategy that was agreed by 14 of the world’s space agencies, including BNSC, earlier this year.2 This strategy calls for a global effort of Solar System exploration, with the ultimate aim of establishing a ‘sustained and ultimately self-sufficient human presence beyond Earth, supported by robotic pathfinders’. In this new global context, the UK must decide whether, and to what extent, it wishes to participate in these exciting endeavours.

Controversy
Although the UK has been, and continues to be, successfully involved in the robotic aspects of space exploration, the subject of human spaceflight is controversial. This is because many scientists believe that the limited resources available for space would be better invested in robotic missions. On the other hand, it can be argued that human beings are uniquely qualified to undertake several key scientific investigations in the space environment, ranging from life and physical sciences research in microgravity to geological and biological fieldwork on planetary surfaces. Thus, the scientific argument is by no means clear-cut.
There is in any case strong public interest in, and support for, human space exploration. For example, in a MORI opinion poll commissioned by the Demos think tank in 2004, 60 per cent of those questioned agreed with the statement: ‘Britain should be involved in the human exploration of Mars and not just the robotic aspects.’
 
Microgravity
The microgravity environment of low Earth orbit provides unique opportunities for research in the life sciences, materials science, and fundamental physics. Further progress in these areas will rely on the unique capabilities of the International Space Station (ISS). Although the UK has so far opted out of microgravity research on the ISS, the potential scientific benefits are well-documented, and were recognised by the independent Microgravity Review Panel in 2003 which noted that ‘without access to such facilities ... the UK will be excluded from entire areas of scientific endeavour.’ 3
Probably the most important scientific benefits of microgravity research will accrue to the life sciences, where research in the space environment is able to provide unique insights into such areas as gene expression, immunological function, bone physiology, and ear, eye and cardiovascular function. These areas are important for understanding a range of terrestrial disease processes (for example, osteoporosis, muscle atrophy, cardiac impairment, and balance and co-ordination defects), and as such have potential medical applications here on Earth. The UK has a growing space biomedicine community well placed to benefit from, and contribute to, these important research fields.
 
Space Astronomy
From almost the very beginning of the space age, astronomy has benefited from being able to place instruments above the obscuring effects of Earth’s atmosphere. Most of these observations have been performed by robotic spacecraft, without human intervention. However, one of the principal lessons from the most successful of these instruments, the Hubble Space Telescope, is that access to a human spaceflight infrastructure can greatly extend the life, and increase the efficiency, of space-based astronomical instruments.
This experience teaches us that the operational lifetime, and scientific productivity, of space-based instruments are likely to be enhanced if a human spaceflight infrastructure exists which is able to maintain and upgrade them. In the longer term, astronomy may also benefit from a renewed human presence on the Moon, as the lunar surface provides an excellent location from which to perform astronomical observations across a wide range of wavelengths.

Planetary Exploration
The Apollo programme clearly demonstrated the scientific value of astronauts as explorers of planetary surfaces, principally because they bring agility, versatility and intelligence to exploration in a way that robots cannot. Although it is true that humans will face many dangers and obstacles operating on other planets, mostly due to their physiological limitations when compared to robots, the potential scientific returns are more than sufficient to justify employing astronauts as field scientists on other planets.4
There is little doubt that the UK planetary science community would benefit from involvement in these exciting activities.

Science education
Space exploration is inherently exciting, and as such is an obvious vehicle for inspiring the public in general, and young people in particular, to take an increased interest in science and engineering. Indeed, in the MORI poll quoted above, fully 70 per cent of respondents agreed with the statement that ‘space encourages young people to become scientists and engineers’.
As noted in an earlier report in Science & Public Affairs, the falling numbers of UK students studying science and engineering is a matter of increasing concern for a knowledge-based economy such as ours.5 UK participation in an expanded, highly visible, human spaceflight programme could prove to be a significant help in this respect, by inspiring more students to take an interest in the scientific and engineering disciplines.

Industry
Human spaceflight is technically very demanding, and this is indeed one of the reasons why it is so expensive. However, for this very reason, engaging in human space activities must necessarily act as a stimulus for employment, skill development, and technical innovation in the participating industries. This expansion of technical capabilities is in turn likely to find applications in other areas of the wider economy. Human space exploration may be expensive, but the money itself does not leave the Earth; rather, it stays on the ground, where it stimulates additional economic activity.
There are also strong political and ethical reasons for wanting to wean the aerospace industry off its staple activity of producing high-tech weaponry, and an expanded space programme would provide such an opportunity while maintaining employment and innovation in the companies concerned.

International cooperation
Space exploration provides a natural focus for international cooperation, as indicated by the collaboration of some 15 nation states (currently excluding the UK) in the construction and operation of the ISS. In trying to build a stable geopolitical environment on Earth, it must be desirable to increase the range and depth of such collaborative endeavours. Human space exploration is especially, and perhaps uniquely, well-suited to enhancing a sense of global solidarity owing to its globally high media profile. This is recognised in the Global Exploration Strategy, and it would seem to be desirable that a major economy such as the UK is seen to be pulling its weight in this respect.

Conclusions
The UK is currently the only major industrialised economy that has consistently declined to participate in human space exploration, and the current review of UK space policy provides an opportunity to reverse this long-standing, but arguably very short-sighted, policy.
As noted above, clear scientific benefits of human space exploration can readily be identified. Given that participation in human space activities would also be inspiring UK school children, supporting UK industry, and making a positive contribution to international cooperation, there appears to be a strong case for re-examining UK policy in this regard. This is especially so given the new international context provided by the Global Exploration Strategy, where UK participation would provide wide-ranging scientific, industrial and educational benefits that cannot obviously be attained in any other way.

1. See http://tinyurl.com/2r3ozg
2. See http://tinyurl.com/24vwbq
3.See http://www.microgravity.org.uk/ recommendations.pdf
4. See, for example http://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/archive/ 00000405/01/Binder1.pdf
5. SPA (June 2007), STEM shortages will stymie business, p8 

Dr I.A.Crawford is a Senior Lecturer in Planetary Science at Birkbeck College, London, and was a member of the UK Space Exploration Working Group established by BNSC in early 2007 to consider future directions in civil policy.