Beyond: Our Future in Space (46 page)

of space travel, 42–43, 55–56,
56
, 106–9, 152–53

Robinson, Kim Stanley, 174

robonaut project,
179

robots, robotics:

as aids to humans, 249, 250

in asteroid redirection, 104

commercial, 178

ethical issues of, 179

nanotechnology in, 179–82,
181

remote control of, 177–78

remote sensing through, 176

self-assembly and self-replication by, 226–28, 258, 259

in spacecraft, 50, 100,
100

space exploration by, 53–57, 66, 98, 133, 161, 177–79,
179
, 208, 224–28

see also
cyborgs; nanobots

Rocketdyne,
112

rocket equation, 27, 53, 72–73, 110–11,
111
, 148, 220, 268

rocket fuel, 110–13, 148, 156, 159, 161

comparison of efficiency of, 219–24

Rocket Performance Calculator, 222

rockets:

alternatives to, 148–53

“bible” of, 267

challenges in launching of, 43–44, 46–49, 106, 107, 111–12, 148

comparison of US and Soviet,
44

cost of, 112–13,
113

developing technology of, 21–39, 43, 101, 103, 112–13, 183, 262

fuel for, 110–13, 148, 156, 159, 161, 220–21

launched from planes, 84

liquid-fueled, 28–29,
29

physics and function of, 110–14

proposed energy technologies for, 220–24

reusable, 101, 103, 111, 112,
113

solar sails compared to, 183

as term, 23

visionaries in development of, 26–30, 94

in warfare, 22–24, 30, 32–34

see also
specific rockets

“Rockets to the Planets in Space, The” (Oberth), 28

Rogers Commission, 271

Rohrabacher, Dana, 284

Rome, ancient, 18, 67, 163

Rovekamp, Roger,
207

rovers, 66–67,
92
, 125,
140
, 143, 158, 165, 167

nanotechnology in, 181–82

remote sensing through, 176

Rozier, Jean-François de, 68

RP-1 kerosine, 110

RS-25 rocket,
112

Russia, 23, 26–27, 149, 178

space program of, 37, 65–66, 72, 75, 84, 91, 104, 106, 107–8, 113, 114, 140, 143, 168, 184, 195, 200, 271

space tourism by, 75, 102

tensions between US and, 72

see also
Soviet Union

Russian Revolution, 27, 47

Russian Space Agency, 102

Rutan, Burt, 72, 82–86,
85
, 88,
88
, 89, 91, 97–98, 105–6, 214

Rutan, Dick, 83–84

Rutan Aircraft Factory, 83

Saberhagen, Fred, 177, 259

Sagan, Carl, 53, 121–22,
121
, 176–77, 184, 198, 234–35, 238, 240

Sahakian, Barbara, 98

Sahara Desert, 238

sails:

solar, 183–86,
185

wind-driven, 67–68, 183, 262

Salyut space station, 54, 108

satellites:

artificial Earth, 36–39,
37
, 40, 65, 71, 106

commercial, 96, 105

communications, 101, 142, 153

in energy capture, 253

geostationary, 149

GPS, 144

launching of, 154,
154

miniature, 90, 184–85

Saturn:

moon of, 125, 227

probes to, 52–53

as uninhabitable, 125

Saturn V rocket, 43,
44
, 46, 54, 83, 104, 111, 113,
113
, 166

Scaled Composites, 83, 89

science fiction, 192, 196, 222, 223, 239, 250, 253

aliens in, 186–87

in film, 28, 204

Mars in, 164, 174

roots of, 20

technologies of, 228–32, 259

see also
specific authors and works

scientific method, 213

Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI), 187–90, 234,
239
, 254

evolution and technology of, 237–39, 242–43,
242

lack of signals detected by, 236–37, 240–44

new paradigms for, 258

“Searching for Interstellar Communications” (Cocconi and Morrison), 187

sea travel:

early human migration through, 8, 9

exploration by, 109, 262

propulsion in, 67–68

self-replication, 226–28, 258, 259

Senate, US, Armed Services Preparedness Committee of, 39

SETI Institute, 188

78–6 (pig), 250

sex:

promiscuous, 12

in reproduction, 6, 172

in space, 200, 214

Shackleton Energy Company, 161

Shane, Scott, 98

Shatner, William, 88–89

Shelley, Mary, 206

Shenlong (“Divine Dragon”), 145

Shenzhou 10, 142–43

Shepard, Alan, 41, 84

Shostak, Seth, 243

Siberia, 65, 119–20, 238

population dispersion into, 8, 118, 218

Sidereal Messenger, The
(Galileo), 270

Siemienowicz, Kazimierz, 267

Simonyi, Charles, 75

Sims, 175

simulation:

infinite regression in, 261

living in, 257–62

simulation hypothesis, 261

Sinatra, Frank, 45

singularity, 207

in origin of cosmos, 255

and simulation, 257–62

technological, 258–59

Singularity University, 94, 259

Skylab space station, 54, 116

Skype video, 176

smart motes, 181, 225

smartphones, 92, 185

Smithsonian Institution, 30, 81

Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, 85, 91, 271

Snow Crash
(Stephenson), 103

Snowden, Edward, 178

social media, 195

Sojourner rover, 165

SolarCity, 96–97

solar flares, 167

solar power, 96, 181, 183–86

solar sails, solar sailing, 183–86,
185
, 223, 225, 227

Solar System:

discovery of first planet beyond, 126–27

edge of, 50, 53, 121

formation of, 156

habitability potential in, 122, 124–26

latency variations in, 178

probes into, 51–52, 66, 177, 185–86, 208, 270

projected travel within, 248–49, 263

property rights in, 145–47, 198

worlds beyond, 126–29, 156, 208, 215, 250, 263

solar wind, 162, 223

sound barrier, breaking of, 69, 71

South America, 11, 202, 218

Soviet Union, 30, 34,
37
, 141

fall of, 47, 65, 75, 197, 271–72

rocket development in, 35–39

space program failures and losses of, 43, 47, 50–51, 54, 269

space program of, 37–39, 40–43, 141,
149
, 237, 271

Soyuz spacecraft, 43, 55, 75, 84, 91, 102, 106, 113, 143

crash of, 107–8

space:

civilians in, 55, 74

civilian vs. military control of, 37–39, 69–71, 79, 153

commercialization of, 55, 63, 73–76, 79–80, 88–89,
92
, 97, 99–109,
100
, 110, 147, 153–56,
154
, 199, 214, 249, 275

debris in, 144, 152

first American in, 41

first man in, 40–41,
41

first women in, 40, 74

as infinite, 18, 19, 22

as inhospitable to human beings, 53–54, 114–17, 121

legislation on, 39, 78, 90, 144, 145–47, 198–200

living in, 192–208

“living off the land” in, 166, 200

peaceful exploration of, 39

potential for human habitabilty in, 123

prototype for sealed ecosystem in, 192–97

Space Act (1958), 39, 90

Space Adventures, 102, 275

space colonization:

challenges of, 197–201

cyborgs in, 204–8

evolutionary diversion in, 201–4

legal issues in, 198–200

of Mars, 166–71,
169
, 192, 195, 203

off-Earth human beings in, 215, 250–51

prototype experiments for, 192–97

space elevators, 27, 148–53,
150
, 160–61, 185, 280

“Space Exploration via Telepresence,” 178

Spaceflight Society, 28

space hotels, 102–3

Space Launch System (SLS), 104

space mining, 155–56, 161–62

“Space Oddity,” 142

spaceplanes, 71–72,
85
, 144

Spaceport America, 1–6, 105

Space Race, 35–39,
37
, 40–43, 50, 55, 139

SpaceShipOne, 72, 85,
85
, 88–89,
88
, 91

SpaceShipTwo, 88, 101, 105

Space Shuttle, 45, 46, 49,
64
, 72, 84,
85
, 111–13,
112
, 159, 167, 194, 219–20, 222, 275

disasters of, 55–56,
56
, 74–75, 107, 111–13

final flight of, 271

limitations of, 55–56, 64–65

as reusable vehicle, 54–55

space sickness, 114

spacesuits, 89, 182, 195–96

space-time, 255,
255

manipulation of, 258

space tourism, 63, 73, 75–76, 79–80, 88–89, 91, 101–3,
154
, 170, 214

celebrities in, 88, 101–2

revenue from, 154–55,
155

risks of, 102, 105–9, 155

rules for, 105

space travel:

beyond Solar System,
see
interstellar travel

bureaucracy of, 105–10, 271

cost of, 39, 42, 45, 49, 54, 55, 66, 75, 81–82, 91, 112–14,
113
, 139–49, 153, 155–56, 158–59, 161, 166, 179, 183, 198, 214, 217, 222, 224–26, 252, 270, 275, 284

early attempts at, 21–22,
22

effect of rocket equation in,
see
rocket equation

entrepreneurs of, 81–98

erroneous predictions about, 214

failures and disasters in, 21–22,
22
, 38, 43, 47, 50–51, 54–56,
56
, 63–64, 68, 72, 74–75, 101, 102, 107, 142, 184, 269, 271, 275

fatality rate of, 107–9

fictional vignettes of, 1–4, 59–62, 135–38, 209–12

Internet compared to, 76–80,
77
,
80

life extension for, 250–51

lifetimes lived in, 251

living conditions in, 114–17

new business model for, 99–105

Newton’s theories as basis of, 25

obstacles to, 21, 63, 66–67, 105–109

space travel (
continue
d
)

as part of simulation, 261–62

public engagement in, 45, 73, 85, 93, 162, 177, 217

remote sensing vs., 175–91

risks of, 43–44, 83, 89, 93, 105–9

speculation on future of, 76–80, 133, 213–32, 248–52

suborbital, 84

telescopic observation vs., 49–50

visionaries of, 26–39,
80
, 94, 109

SpaceX, 96,
97
, 100–103, 113–14, 275

SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, 96, 100,
100
, 102, 170

special theory of relativity, 228, 231

specific impulse, 220

spectroscopy, 127, 165, 176

spectrum analyzer, 237

Speer, Albert, 34

Spielberg, Steven, 238

Spirit of St. Louis (airplane), 91

Spirit of St. Louis, The
(Lindbergh), 90

Spirit rover, 165

Sputnik 1, 37–39,
37
, 40, 41, 51, 65, 141, 269

Sputnik 2, 47, 269

Sputnik 3, 39, 269

SR-71 “Blackbird,” 69

Stafford, Tom, 55

Stalin, Joseph, 35, 37, 253

Stapledon, Olaf, 253

Stapp, John, 46

Stark, Tony (Iron Man), 95, 96, 205

stars:

ancient Greek concept of, 18

as basis of carbon, 256

in exoplanet detection, 126–28,
129
, 130–31

Sun-like, 131, 133, 187, 215, 233, 236

Star Trek
, 88, 90, 92, 167, 192, 228–29, 268

Star Trek: The Next Generation
, 229, 232

Stephenson, Neal, 103

Stevenson, Robert, 114

Stone, Bill, 97–98, 161

string theory, 257

Student, The
, 86

Sub-Biosphere 2, 197

suitports, 196

Sun:

ancient Greek concept of, 18

demise of, 197, 286

as energy source, 124, 223, 253

formation of, 156

stars that are similar to, 131, 133, 187, 215, 233, 236

Sunjammer, 185, 284

Survivor
(TV series), 75

suspended animation, 250–52

Synergia Ranch, 192

tachyons, 228

taikonauts, 142–43

tardigrades (water bears), 122

Tarter, Jill, 242–43

Tau Ceti, 187–88, 237

Teacher in Space program, 55, 74

technological maturity, 260–61

technology:

advancements in, 127, 133, 159–60, 224, 231, 241, 250, 257–62, 288, 292

alien, 186–91

in cameras, 53

computation, 258–62

destructive potential of, 245–46

development of, 20

for efficient energy production, 220–24,
221

erroneous predictions about, 213–14

in foods, 115–16

human beings surpassed by, 258–59

Kardashev’s scale for, 253–54

outdated, 64–65, 106

of remote sensing, 175–91

of spacesuits, 195–96

speculative and hypothetical, 228–32

trust in, 98

in weaponry, 22–24

see also
nanotechnology;
specific technologies

TED2014 conference, 178

telepathy, cybernetic, 206

teleportation, 228–32,
230
, 252

telepresence, 176–79, 283

telerobotics, 177–78

telescopes, 31, 49–50, 126, 128, 129–30, 158, 163, 187, 190, 218, 235, 292–93

see also
specific instruments

Telstar, 153

Tereshkova, Valentina, 74

Terminator, The
, 259