Astronomers have interpreted the red shift in a similar manner. The greater the shift towards the red end of the spectrum the faster the star is moving away from the earth. Another explanation is possible. The frequency of the spectral lines is an indication of the energy at the point that it was generated. The frequency of light is also an indication of the energy that it has.
Red light has less energy than blue light.
If space did posses properties associated with inertial mass, light would dissipate energy while traveling through it. Therefore, each spectral line would lose energy due to the initial properties of space causing it to shift toward the red end of the spectrum. The red shift, therefore, may not be entirely a result of the movement of stars away from us. Instead, part of the energy associated with the red shift may be required to overcome the inertial mass of space. A blue shift would occur in a star spectrum if the velocity of a star moving in our direction imparted more energy to the spectral lines than was dissipated by the inertial properties of space it traveled through.