As many readers will know, I’m a huge Star Trek fan. Since I was very small, I’ve seen the exploration of space as the next great adventure for humanity. It is our collective destiny to go out and explore the final frontier. Part of why I adore Star Trek so much is because it showed us a future where we have overcome our petty differences and capitalist cravings to create a society in which everyone works together for the good of humanity – or at least, that’s how the producers spun it. However, it now seems that mankind is turning away from that noble future: Last night, the first privately owned, commercial spacecraft touched down on the moon. It may have had a lot of backing and assistance from NASA, but nonetheless it was created by a private company whose ultimate aim will be to make money rather than explore; and who say that they eventually intend to mine the moon for resources like water.

To be honest I find that sickening. Space does not belong to anyone; it is not there for us to exploit. More to the point, American capitalists have no particular right to it just because they got there first. Thus, as eager as I am to see people walking on the moon again later this decade, this is a step in the wrong direction. Space is there to explore, not exploit; opening it up to shortsighted, commercial interests turns humanity away from a far greater, more noble destiny.