History testifies to powerful rulers\u2019 aspirations to the position of gods, including the Pharaohs and Roman Emperors such as Caligula or Nero. Nowadays, such rulers are mimicked by billionaires and their followers, including some scientists, with false messianic prophecies in public and the media of ‘intergalactic civilisation’. Included are predictions of making life interplanetary<\/a> by giant proprietors of space hardware, such as Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Richard Branson, with plans for space tourism, asteroid mining<\/a>, and permanent human settlements on the Moon and Mars<\/a>. By some estimates, such programs would be expected to cost about $1 trillion by 2040<\/a><\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n These ideas are closely linked to the rise of climate disruption and potential nuclear calamities, as well as to the upsurge of fascism.\u00a0Billionaires’ space playgrounds can only come at the expense of the multitude of humanity left behind. Coupled with plans for militarisation and even\u00a0weaponisation\u00a0of space, humanity may be left with a few barren rocks in space to support a few survivors temporarily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2000, Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder and the world\u2019s richest man, launched the reusable Blue Origin<\/a>, albeit with several launch engine problems. The aim is to commence space tourism in sub-orbital flights, charging a six-figure ticket price such as $300,000. Development, in partnership with NASA, of returnable rockets includes defence contracts with the US government and ambitions for permanent human settlement on the Moon. According to one report, Bezos says<\/a>, ‘humans need space travel, because they are “destroying this planet\u201d’, but the reporter observes, \u201cHe doesn\u2019t mean that humanity will have to evacuate a dying Earth, but rather that we could outsource our destructive behaviors to space\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2002, Elon Musk, founder of PayPal, developed the SpaceX rocket, initiating 70 launches to date, with contracts with NASA, the US Air Force, and the Argentine Space Agency, including supply contracts with the International Space Station<\/a>. SpaceX\u2019s ultimate goal is to send crewed flights to Mars and eventually colonise the Red Planet. ‘I want to die on Mars,’ Musk has said, ‘just not on impact’, with the motto<\/a>, Making Life Interplanetary. ‘You want to wake up in the morning and think the future is going to be great. And that\u2019s what being a space-faring civilisation is all about. It\u2019s about believing in the future, and thinking the future will be better than the past. And I can\u2019t think of anything more exciting than going out there and being among the stars’.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2004, Richard Branson launched Virgin Galactic,<\/em> a tourist-oriented reusable \u2018space plane\u2019 for sub-orbital flights, having already signed some rich people on $250,000 tickets, and collaborated with the United Arab Emirate\u2019s sovereign wealth fund. On 13 December 2018, the VSS Unity achieved the project\u2019s first sub-orbital space flight, reaching an altitude of 82.7 km<\/a>. In February 2019, a member of the team sat in a flight which reached an altitude of 89.9 km. In Richard Branson\u2019s motto ‘Together we open space to change the world for good<\/a>‘.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Unfortunately, these ideas are attracting some scientists like bees to the honey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Stephen Hawking said: ‘Human race is doomed if we do not colonize the Moon and Mars<\/a>.’ If we\u2019re to survive, Hawking said, ‘I am convinced that humans need to leave Earth’.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The science presenter Brian Cox, known for his programs on astronomy and the planets, is cited<\/a>, ‘Cox says the only way we can become “immortal” as a species is to populate other planets’.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Such messianic ideas raise critical questions, including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n