Nepal, July 29 -- It was April 25, 2015, the day a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck Nepal. I was asking my father to check my homework when the bookshelves toppled. A falling vase cut my sister's hand. For weeks, countless Nepalis, including my family, slept on the open ground because we did not trust the walls around and the floor underneath us. The vast open sky was the only thing I considered safe. Lying there one night, I remember feeling, "You are so small."

Survival and scarcity are the real coordinates of life in Nepal. They shape what is considered practical, urgent and acceptable to want. I understand why the argument against space starts there. But if that is where it starts, it should not be where it ends. Because space was alr...