International Space Station must be treated like a baby Earth says former European Space Agency chief – The Independent

Companies and engineers are ignoring facts because they do not fit with their thinking and interests, the former director general of the European Space Agency has said in a sombre speech.

Jean-Jacques Dordain, who led the agency between 2003 and 2015, said in a speech at the Starmus space conference that humans must change the world according to reality, not according to short-term wishes.

In a stark reflection on humanitys development, Mr Dordain told how the population of the planet has gone up by a factor of three since he was born, but that the consumption of electrical resources has increased by a factor of 20, and that there are limits to the finite world we are on despite people treating the Earth as if it was an infinite planet.

He added: Everything has changed, but unfortunately the human point of view has not changed.

Mr Dordain said that he was still an optimist, noting that the International Space Station has been a key signifier of the cooperation that humans can achieve.

This is a baby Earth, he said, we have six crew members living and working together. They have to trust each other and rely upon each other. And they are living with limited resources. They have to recycle those resources this is a most fantastic laboratory by which we can try and teach the humans on planet Earth.

However, his comments come shortly after Russia has said that it will leave the ISS in 2024 following tense a geopolitical situation caused by its invasion of Ukraine. Many western countries, including the US and UK, have been assisting Ukraine with funds and weapons to help the country defend itself.

Last month, Russia unveiled a model of a new space station known as the Russian Orbital Service Station or ROSS, which is expected to be finalised by 2035.

Nasa and Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, has said that astronauts can continue riding Russian rockets and Russian cosmonauts can still travel to the International Space Station until SpaceX begins transporting spacefarers this autumn.

Space can help, but we need to teach humans. And you can help. And you have no excuse, Mr Dordain concluded.

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International Space Station must be treated like a baby Earth says former European Space Agency chief - The Independent