by Chris Impey
at Irvine, 112, 223
at Los Angeles, 78
Calvin, William, 15
camera technology, 53, 176–77, 205
Cameron, James, 92, 120, 176
Canada, 142
canals, on Mars, 163
canards, 82–83
cancer, 180
cannonball, Newton’s experiment with, 25, 267
cannons:
acceleration force of, 26
smooth-bore, 24
carbon, 172
in nanotechnology, 151–52, 182
as requirement for life, 123–24, 256
carbon dioxide, 132, 171, 172–73, 182, 193–94, 196, 218, 278
carbon nanotubes, 151–52
carbyne, 152
Cassini spacecraft, 52–53, 125, 182
Castro, Fidel, 41
casualties, early Chinese, 22
cataracts, 115
cats, 48–49, 251
causality principle, 230–31
cave paintings, 15
celestial property rights, 145–47
Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), 158
centrifuges, 114
Cerf, Vinton, 67
Chaffee, Roger, 43
Challenger, explosion of, 55–56, 56, 74, 107, 271
Chang’e 3 lunar probe, 143, 162
chemical fuels, 219–21, 220
chickens, research using, 26
chimpanzees, 14
genetic diversity of humans vs., 202
China:
as averse to innovation, 109
in early attempts at space travel, 21–22, 22, 68, 139, 141
population dispersion into, 7
revolution in, 141
rocket development in, 23–24, 113
space program of, 139–44, 140, 161, 162, 195, 276
US relations with, 144
Christian, Fletcher, 202
Christianity, 20
Chuansheng Chen, 11
civilization:
Type I, 253, 254, 257
Type II, 253–54, 254, 257
Type III, 253, 254, 257
Type IV, 253, 254, 255
Clarke, Arthur C., 149–50, 164, 185, 201, 252
climate change, 197–98, 286
Clinton, Bill, 154
cloning, 251
Clynes, Manfred, 205
Cocconi, Giuseppe, 187
Colbert, Stephen, 74, 117
Cold War, 35–39, 41–43, 50, 55, 73, 76, 139, 145, 197
Columbia, disintegration of, 55, 56, 107
Columbia Accident Investigation Board Report, 107
Columbus, Christopher, 243
comets, 183
Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS), 275
Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, 145
communication:
with alien species, 52, 189, 234–35, 238, 239, 246, 253, 255, 259
by digital data transmission, 66–67, 77–80
latency and, 178
space technology in, 153–54
Compaq, 95
computation, future technology of, 258–62
confinement, psychological impact of, 169–70
Congress, US:
legislation in, 78, 144
on space programs, 38, 41, 75, 156, 158
consciousness, simulation of, 259–61
conservation biology, 201
conspiracy theories, 238, 240
Constellation program, 104
Contact (film), 236–37, 242
Contact (Sagan), 236
contraception, 200
Copernicus, 19, 20, 127
Coriolis force, Coriolis effect, 152
cosmic rays, 115, 160, 160, 164, 167, 168, 204
cosmism, 27
cosmonauts, 141
disasters of, 108
records set by, 115
selection criteria for, 74
Cosmos 1, 184
cosmos, cosmology, ancient concepts of, 17–20
Cosmos Studios, 184
Cosmotheoros (Huygens), 163
counterfactual thinking, 14
Cronkite, Walter, 74
cryogenic suspension, 250–51
cryptobiosis, 123
cryptography, 231, 291
Cuban missile crisis, 41–42
CubeSat, 184–85
Cultural Revolution, Chinese, 141–42
Curiosity rover, 165, 167, 176, 181
cybernetics, 206–7
Cyborg Foundation, 288
cyborgs (cybernetic organisms), 204–8, 288
Cygnus capsule, 100
cytosine, 6
dark energy, 256
d’Arlandes, Marquis, 68
DARPANET, 78
Darwin, Charles, 265
“Darwin” (machine), 227
Death Valley, 118–19
deceleration, 222, 223
DeepSea Challenger sub, 120
deep space, 126–29
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), 78, 224
Defense Department, US, 38, 78, 90, 153
De Garis, Hugo, 258
Delta rockets, 72, 113
Delta-V, 111
Democritus, 19
Destination Mir (reality show), 75
Diamandis, Peter, 90–94, 97–98, 147, 156
diamonds, 131, 231
Dick, Philip K., 204–5
Digital Equipment Corporation, 213
DNA, 6–7, 9, 19, 189, 202, 228, 251, 263, 265, 266
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (Dick), 205
dogs:
brains of, 13
in scientific research, 251
in space travel, 40, 47
Dolly (sheep), 251
Doomsday Clock, 197–98, 246, 286
dopamine, 10, 98
Doppler method, exoplanet detection and characterization by, 127, 128, 129, 130, 133, 215
Doppler shift, 127
Dora-Mittelbau concentration camp, 33
Downey, Robert, Jr., 95
drag, in flight, 68, 83, 223
Drake, Frank, 187–88, 235, 237
Drake equation, 188, 189, 233–35, 237, 241, 243, 244, 253, 291–92
DRD4 alleles, 7R mutation in, 10–12, 11, 15, 98
Drexler, Eric, 226
drones, 180–81
Druyan, Ann, 184
Duke, Charles, 45
Dunn, Tony, 225
Dyson, Freeman, 226–27, 253
Dyson sphere, 253–54, 254
Earth:
atmosphere of, 8, 70–71, 70
early impacts on, 50, 172
geological evolution of, 172
as one of many worlds, 17–20
planets similar to, 122, 124–26, 129–33, 224, 235
projected demise of, 197–98
as round, 19
as suited for human habitation, 118–22, 121, 234
as viewed from space, 45, 53, 121, 185, 270
Earth Return Vehicle, 169
“Earthrise” (Anders), 270
Earth similarity index, 215–16
eBay, 79, 95
Economist, The, 105
ecosystem, sealed and self-contained, 192–97, 193, 285
Eiffel Tower, 27, 149
Einstein, Albert, 220, 228, 256
Eisenhower, Dwight D., 36–39, 73, 79
electric cars, 96
electric solar sails, 186
electromagnetic waves, 186
e-mail, 78
embryo transport, 251
Enceladus, 177, 182, 227
potential habitability of, 125, 278
Encyclopædia Britannica, 95, 283
Endangered Species Act (1973), 201
energy:
aliens’ use of, 190
civilizations characterized by use of, 252–57, 254, 258
dark, 256
declining growth in world consumption of, 257
Einstein
’s equation for, 220
production and efficiency of, 219–24, 220
as requirement for life, 123–24
in rocket equation, 110
Engines of Creation (Drexler), 226
environmental disasters, 245
environmental protection:
as applied to space, 147
movement for, 45, 235, 263, 270
Epicureans, 18
Epsilon Eridani, 187
Eratosthenes, 19
ethane, 52, 125
Ethernet, 213
eukaryotes, 172
Euripides, 18
Europa, 52, 97–98
potential habitability of, 125, 125, 161, 278
Europa Clipper mission, 98
Europe:
economic depression in, 28
population dispersion into, 7–8, 11, 15
roots of technological development in, 23–24
European Southern Observatory, 133
European Space Agency, 159, 178–79
European Union, bureaucracy of, 106
Eustace, Alan, 120, 272
Evenki people, 119–20
Everest, Mount, 120
evolution:
genetic variation in, 6, 203, 265
geological, 172
of human beings, 16–17
off-Earth, 203–4
evolutionary divergence, 201–4
exoplanets:
Earth-like, 129–33, 215–18
extreme, 131–32
formation of, 215, 216
incidence and detection of, 126–33, 128, 233
exploration:
as basic urge of human nature, 7–12, 109, 218, 261–63
imagination and, 262–63
explorer gene, 86
Explorer I, 38
explosives, early Chinese, 21–23
extinction, 201–2
extraterrestrials, see aliens, extraterrestrial
extra-vehicular activities, 179
extremophiles, 122–23
eyeborg, 205–6
Falcon Heavy rocket, 114
Falcon rockets, 96, 97, 101, 184
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), 82, 93, 105–7, 154
Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, 272
Felix and Félicette (cats), 48–49
Fermi, Enrico, 239–41
Fermilab, 254
“Fermi question,” 240–41, 243
Feynman, Richard, 179–80, 230, 270, 280
F4 Phantom jet fighter, 82
51 Peg (star), 126, 133
55 Cancri (star), 131
F-117 Nighthawk, 69
fine-tuning, 256, 294
fire arrows, 23, 68
fireworks, 21–24, 31
flagella, 180
flight:
first human, 68
first powered, 69
principles of, 67–73
stability in, 82–83
“Fly Me to the Moon,” 45
food:
energy produced by, 219, 220
in sealed ecosystem, 194–95
for space travel, 115–16, 159, 170
Forward, Robert, 223
Foundation series (Asimov), 94
founder effect, 202–3
Fountains of Paradise, The (Clarke), 149
France, 48, 68, 90
Frankenstein monster, 206, 259
Fresnel lens, 223
From Earth to the Moon (Verne), 183
fuel-to-payload ratio, see rocket equation
Fukuyama, Francis, 207
Fuller, Buckminster, 151, 192
fullerenes, 151
Futron corporation, 155
Future of Humanity Institute, 245
“futurology,” 248–52, 249
Fyodorov, Nikolai, 26, 27
Gagarin, Yuri, 40–41, 41, 66, 269
Gaia hypothesis, 286
galaxies:
incidence and detection of, 235
number of, 255
see also Milky Way galaxy
Galileo, 49–50, 183, 270
Gandhi, Mahatma, 147
Garn, Jake, 114
Garn scale, 114
Garriott, Richard, 92
gas-giant planets, 125, 126–29
Gauss, Karl Friedrich, 238
Gazenko, Oleg, 47
Gemini program, 42
Genesis, Book of, 148–49
genetic anthropology, 6
genetic code, 5–7, 123
genetic diversity, 201–3
genetic drift, 203
genetic engineering, 245, 249
genetic markers, 6–7
genetics, human, 6–7, 9–12, 120, 201–4
Genographic Project, 7, 265
genome sequencing, 93, 202, 292
genotype, 6
“adventure,” 11–12, 98
geocentrism, 17, 19–20, 49
geodesic domes, 192
geological evolution, 172
George III, king of England, 147
German Aerospace Center, 178
Germany, Germans, 202, 238
rocket development by, 28, 30–34, 141
in World War II, 30–35
g-forces, 46–49, 48, 89, 111, 114
GJ 504b (exoplanet), 131
GJ 1214b (exoplanet), 132
glaciation, 172
Glenn Research Center, 219
global communications industry, 153–54
Global Positioning System (GPS), 144, 153–54
God, human beings in special relationship with, 20
Goddard, Robert, 28–32, 29, 36, 76, 78, 81–82, 94, 268
Goddard Space Flight Center, 178
gods, 20
divine intervention of, 18
Golden Fleece awards, 238
Goldilocks zone, 122, 126, 131
Gonzalez, Antonin, 215
Goodall, Jane, 14
Google, 80, 92, 185, 272, 275
Lunar X Prize, 161
Gopnik, Alison, 10, 13
Grasshopper, 101
gravity:
centrifugal force in, 26, 114, 150
in flight, 68
of Mars, 181, 203
Newton’s theory of, 25, 267
and orbits, 25, 114–15, 127, 128, 149–50, 267
in rocket equation, 110
of Sun, 183
waves, 255
see also g-forces; zero gravity
Gravity, 176
gravity, Earth’s:
first object to leave, 40, 51
human beings who left, 45
as obstacle for space travel, 21, 105, 148
as perfect for human beings, 118
simulation of, 168–69
Great Art of Artillery, The (Siemienowicz), 267
Great Britain, 86, 106, 206, 227
“Great Filter,” 244–47
Great Leap Forward, 15–16
“Great Silence, The,” of SETI, 236–39, 240–41, 243–44
Greece, ancient, 17–19, 163
greenhouse effect, 171, 173
greenhouse gasses, 132, 278
Griffin, Michael, 57, 147, 285–86
grinders (biohackers), 207
Grissom, Gus, 43
guanine, 6
Guggenheim, Daniel, 81, 268
Guggenheim, Harry, 81
Guggenheim Foundation, 30, 81–82, 268
gunpowder, 21–24, 267
Guth, Alan, 257
habitable zone, 122, 124–26, 130–31, 132, 188, 241, 246, 277–78, 286, 291
defined, 124
Hadfield, Chris, 142
hair, Aboriginal, 8
“Halfway to Pluto” (Pettit), 273
Hanson, Robin, 247
haptic technology, 178
Harbisson, Neil, 205, 288
Harvard Medical School, 90
Hawking, Stephen, 88, 93, 198, 259
HD 10180 (star), 127
Heinlein, Robert, 177
Heisenberg compensator, 229
Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle, 229–30
heliocentrism, 19
helium, 68
helium 3, 161–62
Herschel, William, 163
Higgs particle, 256
High Frontier, 146–47
Hilton, Paris, 88, 101–2
Hilton hotels, 145
Hinduism, 20
Hiroshima, 222
Hitler, Adolf, 32, 34
Hope, Dennis M., 145, 147
Horowitz, Paul, 237–38
hot Jupiters, 127–28, 130
Hubble Space Telescope, 56–57, 65, 218, 225
Huffington, Arianna, 92
human beings:
as adaptable to challenging environments, 118–22
as alien simulations, 260–61, 260
creative spirit of, 73, 248
early global migration of, 5–12, 9, 11, 15, 19, 118, 120, 186, 202, 218, 262, 265
Earth as perfectly suited for, 118–22, 121
exploration intrinsic to nature of, 7–12, 109, 218, 261–63
first appearance of, 5, 15, 172, 234
impact of evolutionary divergence on, 201–4
as isolated species, 241–42
as lone intelligent life, 241, 243
merger of machines and, see cyborgs
minimal viable population in, 201–2, 251
off-Earth, 203–4, 215, 250–52
requirements of habitability for, 122, 124–26, 129, 130–31
sense of self of, 232, 261
space as inhospitable to, 53–54, 114–17, 121, 123
space exploration by robots vs., 53–57, 66, 98, 133, 161, 177–79, 179, 208, 224–28
space travel as profound and sublime experience for, 45, 53, 117, 122
speculation on future of, 93, 94, 204, 207–8, 215, 244–47, 248–63, 249
surpassed by technology, 258–59
threats to survival of, 94, 207–8, 244–47, 250, 259–62, 286, 293
timeline for past and future of, 248–50, 249
transforming moment for, 258–59
Huntsville, Ala., US Space and Rocket Center in, 48
Huygens, Christiaan, 163
Huygens probe, 53
hybrid cars, 96
hydrogen, 110, 156, 159, 161, 187, 219, 222
hydrogen bomb, 36
hydrosphere, 173
hyperloop aviation concept, 95
hypothermia, 251
hypothetical scenarios, 15–16
IBM, 213
Icarus Interstellar, 224
ice:
on Europa, 125
on Mars, 163–65, 227
on Moon, 159–60
ice ages, 7–8
ice-penetrating robot, 98
IKAROS spacecraft, 184
imagination, 10, 14, 20
exploration and, 261–63
immortality, 259
implants, 206–7
inbreeding, 201–3
India, 159, 161
inflatable modules, 101–2
inflation theory, 255–57, 255
information, processing and storage of, 257–60
infrared telescopes, 190
Inspiration Mars, 170–71
Institute for Advanced Concepts, 280
insurance, for space travel, 106–7
International Academy of Astronautics, 152