We too often think of nature as an absolute good. It must be kept pure, pristine, and totally distinct from humans, who are at best a polluting influence. This mindset is dangerous, argues Arden Rowell. It means we only ask how our projects will degrade the environment, not how they might improve it. Desolate regions of Outer Space, she suggests, reveal that pristineness should not be valued, and that nature, in Space and on Earth, can be improved as well as harmed by human action.