Introduction

“We humans are the greatest of Earth's parasites.” This quote, attributed to Dr. Martin H. Fischer (1879–1962), a former professor of physiology at the University of Cincinnati, is obviously meant as a metaphor of our reality on the planet. This book is about outer space explorationOuter space exploration, development, and settlement, and as such, it is built on a vision of humanityHumanity that aims to take us beyond a parasitic interpretation of human civilisation.