I've been investigating Krafft Arnold Ehricke's thoughts upon human expansion into space. Ehricke was a rocket propulsion engineer who promoted a philosophical concept called the "Extraterrestrial Imperative." Ehricke believed that it was the responsibility of humanity to explore space and exploit the resources of the Solar System in order to sustain the development of the species. I thought it might be interesting to have a discussion here within the context of Asgardia about his three Laws of Aeronautics. 

 First Law: Nobody and nothing under the natural laws of this universe imposes any limitations on man, except man himself.

Second Law: Not only the Earth, but the entire Solar System, and as much of the universe as he can reach under the laws of nature, are man's rightful domain of activity.

Third Law: By expanding throughout the universe, man fulfills his destiny as an element of life, endowed with the power of reason and the wisdom of the moral law within himself.

This is quite exciting to learn about.  Have you any books of him or about him you would recommend for a good reading on the topic?

Hi @Yovy, He wrote a book called the Extraterrestrial Imperative among many others related to space, some of which are available online. There is also a great lecture by Martha Freeman http://player.mashpedia.com/player.php?q=9K2nHXgxQjg It was what initially caught my interest in his philosophical work. 

Let me know your thoughts :) 

Wow. That dude was arrogant.

His entire argument is premised on the idea that humanity is supreme, always knows what is best, and anything that is for the benefit of humanity is, by extension, best for the universe.

It completely FAILS to take into account the fact that humanity is part of a system about which we are still ignorant. We cannot even build a stable, isolated ecosystem without having to resort to artificial means. The idea that every decision we make in our own best interest is somehow in the best interest of our environment as well is exceptionally short-sighted and selfish.

YFM

Great point @phicksur.

 I will admit the lofty views of human supremacy in the universe presented in the laws bothers me a bit. Once I put the overall work into the context of Ehricke's time however I saw it was based, at least in part, on the evolutionary tendency of living things to expand into new territories and the need to transcend the limits of the earth and assure the future of humanity through utilizing the vast resources of space. His overall writing expresses for me the need and responsibility to evolve beyond the earth, I continue to question whether or not we have a responsibility or not. 

Wow, I just found a free PDF from the NASA website of the Extraterrestrial Imperative.  It looks more like a research paper than an actual book.

@yovy I call pretty much everything I read a book and everything I watch a show.... it drives my friends kinda nuts :)