According to Professor Capper, humans need urgently to take greater responsibility for their actions in space, and this requires taking responsibility for the cultural ramifications of physically disruptive spaceflight activities such as space mining. In one of the first monographs focusing specifically on the environmental ethics of space exploration, Professor Capper demonstrates that the perspectives and precepts of American Buddhism provide an engaging, productive, and enabling foundation for identifying and shaping our responsibilities in space. A key result of Capper’s analysis is that we ought to reason more proactively about protecting sites of cultural significance on the Moon and elsewhere.

James S. J. Schwartz, author of The Value of Science for Space Exploration

This book is a vital resource for all those concerned about responsible human interactions with the environment beyond planet Earth in hopes of averting the next crisis. Daniel Capper provides an ethical analysis of interest to Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike. In a clear and engaging style, he offers insights drawn from a deep religious tradition and simultaneously informed by a modern scientific perspective. History is replete with examples of environmental issues ignored until a crisis was reached – we must not repeat this pattern in space!

Alan R. Johnson, Clemson University

Dan Capper’s text draws upon contemporary liberal American Buddhism to challenge the artificial separation between Earth and space. Capper’s approach to the problem is deep and striking. Deep, in the sense that it is rooted in a major tradition of religious thought, understood without dogmatism. Striking, in its use of images that, once encountered, can suddenly seem both enlightening and obvious. When rocky worlds without greenery are compared to dry Zen gardens (karesansui) where there are no trees or flowers, I find myself asking “Why didn’t I think of that?”

Tony Milligan, King's College London