Earth, Life, Space: The Social Construction of the Biosphere and Its Expansion Into the Solar System, and Beyond

Abstract

This chapter will explore whether and how the scientific search for evidence of extraterrestrial life, in the solar system and beyond, has affected our conception of the terrestrial biosphere – and vice versa – and extended the idea of “biosphere” into outer space. From my biased perspective, as a long-time member of the astrobiology community, I’m convinced that, of course, the search for life elsewhere has affected the way we think about our home planet. This essay will consider the ways in which this has occurred. While it will not ignore the contributions of space-based Earth observations and human space flight to a change in conceptions of our biosphere, it will focus on the contributions of exobiology and astrobiology, focusing on the search for extraterrestrial life and, to some extent, the search for potentially habitable extrasolar planets (exoplanets).