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Earthbound: The Obstacles to Human Space Exploration and the Promise of Artificial Intelligence
Deep space is a “serial killer”Deep space will be invariably deadly, reveal scientific studies of subjects from cells to humans. Astronauts cannot survive the intense radiation, weightlessness, toxic chemicals, disease, and other hazards beyond Earth orbit. Like old-time serial-circuit Christmas lights, in which losing one bulb extinguished all, a single medical catastrophe will end in astronauts’ death or disability. Any organ—heart, lungs, immune system, brain, or eyes—could fail. And the loss of one spacecraft system—oxygen, temperature, food, water, or radiation protection—will prove lethal.
Nevertheless, NASA and cosmic cheerleaders—politicians, aerospace companies, space travel enthusiasts, and billionaires with space visions—seek to send astronauts into the deadly hell of interplanetary space. They ignore the medical, as well as economic, technological, and political obstacles.
Earthbound instead advocates that deep space be explored by neuronauts—artificially intelligent robots collaborating with scientists. The data they gather could create a Virtual Cosmos enabling all of humanity to experience the wonders of the solar system. Earthbound documents the billions of dollars wasted on human space programs. And it questions whether human deep-space travel is ethical, given its unavoidable hazards.
Nevertheless, NASA and cosmic cheerleaders—politicians, aerospace companies, space travel enthusiasts, and billionaires with space visions—seek to send astronauts into the deadly hell of interplanetary space. They ignore the medical, as well as economic, technological, and political obstacles.
Earthbound instead advocates that deep space be explored by neuronauts—artificially intelligent robots collaborating with scientists. The data they gather could create a Virtual Cosmos enabling all of humanity to experience the wonders of the solar system. Earthbound documents the billions of dollars wasted on human space programs. And it questions whether human deep-space travel is ethical, given its unavoidable hazards.
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Published April 1, 2025
About the author
Dennis Meredith
34 books108 followersDennis Meredith brings to his novels an expertise in science from his career as a science communicator at some of the country's leading research universities, including MIT, Caltech, Cornell, Duke and the University of Wisconsin. He has worked with science journalists at all the nation's major newspapers, magazines, and radio and TV networks and has written well over a thousand news releases and magazine articles on science and engineering over his career.
He has served on the executive board of the National Association of Science Writers and has written numerous articles and guidebooks on science writing and science communication. He has also served as a judge and manager for the NASW Science-in-Society Awards and the AAAS Science Writing Awards.
He was a creator and developer of EurekAlert!, working with The American Association for the Advancement of Science to establish this international research news service, which now links more than 4,500 journalists to news from 800 subscribing research institutions.
In 2007, he was elected as a AAAS Fellow "for exemplary leadership in university communications, and for important contributions to the theory and practice of research communication." In 2012 he was named the year's Honorary Member of Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society.
He holds a B.S. degree in chemistry from the University of Texas (1968) and an M.S. in biochemistry and science writing from the University of Wisconsin (1970).
He is currently writing science articles, non-fiction books and science fiction novels. He also develops and conducts communication workshops for researchers seeking to enhance their communication skills, both professional and lay-level. He has developed workshops for researchers at universities, research foundations, and government agencies and laboratories.
He has served on the executive board of the National Association of Science Writers and has written numerous articles and guidebooks on science writing and science communication. He has also served as a judge and manager for the NASW Science-in-Society Awards and the AAAS Science Writing Awards.
He was a creator and developer of EurekAlert!, working with The American Association for the Advancement of Science to establish this international research news service, which now links more than 4,500 journalists to news from 800 subscribing research institutions.
In 2007, he was elected as a AAAS Fellow "for exemplary leadership in university communications, and for important contributions to the theory and practice of research communication." In 2012 he was named the year's Honorary Member of Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society.
He holds a B.S. degree in chemistry from the University of Texas (1968) and an M.S. in biochemistry and science writing from the University of Wisconsin (1970).
He is currently writing science articles, non-fiction books and science fiction novels. He also develops and conducts communication workshops for researchers seeking to enhance their communication skills, both professional and lay-level. He has developed workshops for researchers at universities, research foundations, and government agencies and laboratories.
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May 11, 2026
As a long-time reader of science fiction literature and a dedicated follower of science fiction movies and TV shows, I approached Meredith’s Earthbound with mild trepidation. I didn’t really want anyone to convince me that there was no chance that humans might achieve anything like the interstellar accomplishments chronicled by classic authors like Robert Heinlein and Arthur C. Clarke, and that we would never see real-life parallels with stories like Firefly or The Expanse.
But Meredith makes a powerful (and for me, convincing) case that human beings are biologically and psychologically unsuited for deep-space expansion on the scale we most commonly see depicted in popular culture and by space exploration advocates like NASA and Elon Musk. He argues that the obstacles to human travel beyond the moon are not simply engineering problems that we can eventually solve, but fundamental limitations with roots in physics, economics, human biology, and evolutionary history. His discussion of the medical and biological barriers, backed up by existing (and underreported) documentation of the damaging effects of space travel on astronauts who have been to the moon and the International Space Station, is especially persuasive.
For these reasons, he contends that advanced artificial intelligence and autonomous robotic systems, which he calls neuronauts, are far more likely than humans to become the true explorers of the cosmos. He outlines a program for robotic exploration of the solar system that is both realistic and economically feasible (and ambitious, although certainly no more ambitious than proposed human space travel to the planets).
Meredith acknowledges that dreams of space travel and living on other worlds have been an inspiration for generations of humans, and that acceptance of human limitations means we won’t realize those dreams. But he suggests that “we should direct our feeling of inspiration toward Earth – which harbors the stunning evolutionary miracle of life.
“I would argue that admitting that we are deeply dependent on our home planet would help us develop a productive humility that would make us value our planet more.”
After reading Earthbound, I probably won’t look at the United Federation of Planets and other science fiction creations quite the same way again. But I admire the book’s candor and lack of sentimentality about a serious topic that our culture doesn’t really treat seriously. Meredith gives it the sober and thoughtful consideration it deserves. Highly recommended.
But Meredith makes a powerful (and for me, convincing) case that human beings are biologically and psychologically unsuited for deep-space expansion on the scale we most commonly see depicted in popular culture and by space exploration advocates like NASA and Elon Musk. He argues that the obstacles to human travel beyond the moon are not simply engineering problems that we can eventually solve, but fundamental limitations with roots in physics, economics, human biology, and evolutionary history. His discussion of the medical and biological barriers, backed up by existing (and underreported) documentation of the damaging effects of space travel on astronauts who have been to the moon and the International Space Station, is especially persuasive.
For these reasons, he contends that advanced artificial intelligence and autonomous robotic systems, which he calls neuronauts, are far more likely than humans to become the true explorers of the cosmos. He outlines a program for robotic exploration of the solar system that is both realistic and economically feasible (and ambitious, although certainly no more ambitious than proposed human space travel to the planets).
Meredith acknowledges that dreams of space travel and living on other worlds have been an inspiration for generations of humans, and that acceptance of human limitations means we won’t realize those dreams. But he suggests that “we should direct our feeling of inspiration toward Earth – which harbors the stunning evolutionary miracle of life.
“I would argue that admitting that we are deeply dependent on our home planet would help us develop a productive humility that would make us value our planet more.”
After reading Earthbound, I probably won’t look at the United Federation of Planets and other science fiction creations quite the same way again. But I admire the book’s candor and lack of sentimentality about a serious topic that our culture doesn’t really treat seriously. Meredith gives it the sober and thoughtful consideration it deserves. Highly recommended.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review