Consequential Frontier - Peter Ward

nA lucid, bright and essential work of reporting, analysis and genuine care. Peter Ward has given us a new way to think about private endeavors in space. Superb.⁠--Rivka Galchen, author of Little Labors nThis in-depth work of reportage dares to ask what's at stake in privatizing outer space n nEarth is in trouble--so dramatically that we're now scrambling to explore space for valuable resources and a home for permanent colonization. With the era of NASA's dominance now behind us, the private sector is winning this new space race. But if humans and their private wealth have made such a mess of Earth, who can say we won't do the same in space? n nIn The Consequential Frontier, business and technology journalist Peter Ward is raising this vital question before it's too late. Interviewing tech CEOs, inventors, scientists, lobbyists, politicians, and future civilian astronauts, Ward sheds light on a whole industry beyond headline-grabbing rocket billionaires like Bezos and Musk, and introduces the new generation of activists trying to keep it from rushing recklessly into the cosmos. n nWith optimism for what humans might accomplish in space if we could leave our tendency toward deregulation, inequality, and environmental destruction behind, Ward shows just how much cooperation it will take to protect our universal resource and how beneficial it could be for all of us.n