History Main / SpaceTravelVeto

* In the (out-of-print and hard-to-find) 1964 book ''The Moon-Doggle: Domestic and International Implications of the Space Race'' by sociologist Etzioni Anitai, the author criticized American efforts to go into space. He argued that the research into space travel would come at the cost of other sciences.

* ''VideoGame/HomeworldDesertsOfKharak'': Kiith Gaalsien is a clan of religious zealots who believe the kiithid were placed on the harsh desert world of Kharak as a divine punishment, and that any attempt to leave will incur the wrath of god. Unfortunately, since the planet is suffering an ecological collapse, this inadvertently makes the Gaalsien an ApocalypseCult. [[spoiler:The events of the original ''VideoGame/Homeworld'', one-hundred years later, show that the Gaalsien's religion is based on [[FutureImperfect a distortion of ancient history]] -- the kiithid's ancestors were exiled to Kharak by the galactic community four millennia ago on pain of extermination, and the kiithid's eventual completion of a hyperspace-capable mothership [[TheExtremistWasRight prompts the Taiidan Empire to torch the surface of Kharak]].]]

'''Cueball''': Sounds reasonable. So, what's the timeline on "Solving all problems"? Ten years? Fifteen?

In a setting where CasualInterplanetaryTravel and/or CasualInterstellarTravel exists or will exist soon, there can be people opposed to going into space and argue humanity should remain on Earth.

There can be lots of reasons for this mindset. Some might be an EvilLuddite against such technology, some may argue that humanity [[YouAreNotReady simply isn't ready]] for the social, cultural & political ramifications of space travel, some don't think it is worth the costs, and yet others argue that humans will negatively affect any planet or intelligent lifeform they encounter.

** In the comics, Krypton had two different reasons for abandoning space travel. Pre-''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'', it was because the scientist Jax-Ur had accidentally blown up a colony on the moon with an experimental rocket. Post-Crisis, the scientist Kem-L had used an alien device called the Eradicator to modify the DNA of every living Kryptonian, ensuring that they would die if they ever left Krypton.

* In Creator/IsaacAsimov's novel ''Literature/TheEndOfEternity'', a time traveling conspiracy controls the development of human history, preventing social and technological developments that it considers to be against humanity's best interest. It's specifically mentioned that the Eternals have repeatedly ensured that manned space travel never gets developed to any serious extent, regarding it as too risky. [[spoiler: This eventually results in humanity's stagnation and extinction, prompting the protagonists to derail Eternity's timeline by helping create the atomic bomb in 1945.]]
* In Asimov's 1939 short story "Literature/{{Trends}}", a demagogic religious fanatic and his followers oppose science in general and research into space travel in particular, clashing with the story's heroic protagonist, who is attempting to build a rocket capable of traveling into space. The anti-space-travel faction's opposition culminates in a literal "space travel veto", a law outlawing research into rocketry (and eventually nearly all scientific research). In his afterword to the story in the collection ''Literature/TheEarlyAsimov'', Asimov claims that "this was the first story in history that predicted resistance of any kind to the notion of space exploration", which would make it the TropeMaker.

* A common sentiment, even among space enthusiasts, is that robotic missions like the Mars rovers return better value than crewed missions, which are much more expensive due to having extensive life support requirements. This group would generally prefer to put greater emphasis on uncrewed space missions, which would continue to learn more about the universe without putting human lives in danger.
* Then there's the issue of FirstContact. It has been theorized that contact with the sentient species of another planet may not go well for humanity. Either said species might be openly hostile to humanity or humanity might [[HumansAreBastards exploit, hurt or even kill the sentient aliens]].

* In Creator/IsaacAsimov's novel ''Literature/TheEndOfEternity'', a conspiracy controls the development of human history, preventing social and technological developments that it considers to be against humanity's best interest. It's specifically mentioned that the Eternals have repeatedly ensured that manned space travel never gets developed to any serious extent, regarding it as too risky.

There can be lots of reasons for this mindset. Some might be an EvilLuddite against such technology; some may argue that humanity [[YouAreNotReady simply isn't ready]] for the social, cultural & political ramifications of space travel; some don't think it is worth the costs; and yet others argue that humans will negatively affect any planet or intelligent lifeform they encounter.

* In ''Literature/TheEndOfEternity'', a conspiracy controls the development of human history, preventing social and technological developments that it considers to be against humanity's best interest. It's specifically mentioned that the Eternals have repeatedly ensured that manned space travel never gets developed to any serious extent, regarding it as too risky.

** In "[[https://xkcd.com/1232/ Realistic Criteria]]", quoted above, White Hat argues that we need to solve all our problems on Earth before we can afford to go to space. Cueball sarcastically asks how long it will take to "solve all problems", the implication being that it will never happen even if we don't go to space.

** In "[[https://xkcd.com/1232/ Realistic Criteria]]", quoted above, White Hat argues that we need to solve all our problems on Earth before we can afford to go to space. Cueball sarcastically asks how long it will take to "solve all problems", the implication being that it will never happen even if we don't got to space.

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* [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries Captain Kirk]] briefly discusses this trope with Dr. [=McCoy=] in "Return to Tomorrow":

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* ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'': The xenophobic terrorist front, Terra Prime, opposed Earth Starfleet and the launch of the NX-01 Enterprise but were ignored. They experience a brief resurgence of power after the Xindi attack on Earth until disbanded by Captain Archer and the authorities.
* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'': In the [[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS4E2Family episode "Family"]], Robert voices his opposition to René wanting to do like Jean-Luc and join Starfleet to go into outer space. This is more because Robert prefers an older, traditional lifestyle, eschewing technology such as food replicators. Ultimately downplayed as while Robert doesn't abandon his faith in older technology, he does relent on the possibility of René going to Starfleet Academy.

* Very much TruthInTelevision for a few reasons. One is that space travel costs a lot in money, resources, people, etc, it has been argued that it is not worth the cost to go to space.
* Others say that it is better to resolve humanity's problems first such as eradicating war, disease, poverty, pollution and so on before even considering space travel.

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* Others say that it is better to resolve humanity's problems first such as eradicating war, disease, poverty, pollution and so on before even considering space travel.