The Virgin Galactic commercial flight took off into space on September 8, 2023, carrying two corporate pilots, an instructor, three private passengers and fossils of ancient prehuman relatives from South Africa. Billionaire Timothy Nash, a businessman, carried in his luggage a collarbone of one Australopithecus sediba and the thumb bone of a specimen of Homo naledi.

The fossils’ short journey – the VSS Unity flight lasted just an hour – was organized by paleontologist Lee Berger, director of the team that discovered and described the fossils. Homo naledi in 2015.

They had the export license

In July, the South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA) granted Berger an export permit to take the country’s fossils to the US launch site for VSS Unity. SAHRA is a “national governing body responsible for the protection of South Africa’s cultural heritage”.

Although the permits were in order, the event has outraged dozens of human evolution researchers in South Africa and many other countries. Some have described it as ‘unethical’ and a ‘promotional strategy’.

Berger has not yet responded to the furore unleashed. In a statement quoted by Naturethe SAHRA was satisfied because “the publicity achieved offsets the risk inherent in a voyage of this nature.”

Why are scientists angry?

There are many reasons.

One of these is the threat it poses to South Africa’s heritage. According to SAHRA’s licensing policy, these types of fossils can only travel for scientific purposes and must be properly packaged to prevent damage.

In this case, the fossils traveled through space in a sealed tube and were then kept free-floating in someone’s pocket.

Moreover, there was no scientific reason why these fossils would travel to space. Exposing it has not created any new knowledge or served any community, local or international.

As for the possible damage, the radiation doses to which these specimens were exposed during the journey could have permanently changed the microstructure of the fossils, affecting any data that might be needed in the future.

A second problem is that the collarbone of A. sediba It is a type specimen: it is the original physical specimen of the species and if that specimen is lost or destroyed, it disappears forever.

Finally, sending fossils into space has revealed the unequal balance of power when it comes to access to this priceless heritage.

For example, some local communities, such as the residents of Taung, where a 2.8-million-year-old child’s skull nicknamed the Taung Child was discovered in 1924, have requested access to fossil specimens sourced from their areas but have not been granted permission. access. In the case of the Taung boy, discussions have been going on for some time to have the skull returned to the university where it is kept.

So only rich and famous white people have access to fossils? Do poor communities not have access to the same privileges?

Professor Berger’s SAHRA licensing application said it was a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to raise awareness of science, research, human origins and South Africa and its role in understanding humanity’s shared African ancestry to increase.”

We do not agree with that. Which community took part in the flight? What participation has science had? Certainly, no South African or African community participated in this act.

Are we facing a case of colonialism of human remains?

It is an example of what we call neocolonialism. The science of human evolution has a long, dark history of exploitation and extraction. The main perpetrators of colonialism in the past were privileged white men, so this latest development feels familiar. It is not right for something like this to happen in 2023.

Our field of research, and the study of our origins, is beginning to grapple with its past, and we have made some progress in the past decade. Something like that takes us back to the past.

And now that?

Various professional bodies in various African regions have issued statements express their dissatisfaction with the treatment of fossils.

Several branches of the paleoscientific community, such as the Association of Professional Archaeologists of Southern Africa, have directly called on SAHRA and the Cradle of Humankind Management Authority (responsible for preserving the World Heritage Site where the fossils were found) and the government for a report to issue. statement, for scientists and for the South African public in general.

We also urge these organizations to consider and debate the necessary changes to their leave policies.

We trust that the outrage we have shown will prevent something like this from happening again in the future.