Beyond: Our Future in Space

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Beyond: Our Future in Space Page 32

by Chris Impey


  Puerto Rico, 239, 243

  pulsar, 131

  Pythagorean Theorem, 238

  Qian Xuesen, 141

  Qi Jiguang, 24

  Qualcomm Tricorder X Prize, 92

  quantum entanglement, 230–32, 230

  quantum genesis, 255

  quantum mechanics, 258

  quantum teleportation, 230–32, 230

  quantum theory, 189

  qubits, 230

  Queloz, Didier, 126–28, 133

  R-7 rocket, 37

  R-16 rocket, 43

  radiation, infrared, 109, 253–54, 254

  radioactivity, as energy source, 124, 181

  radio waves, 66, 187, 189, 242

  ramjets, 222–23

  RAND Corporation, 222

  Rare Earth hypothesis, 241

  RCS Energia, 106

  RD-180 engine, 72

  Reagan, Ronald, administration of, 167, 271

  reality TV, 75, 171, 214, 282

  “Realm of Fear,” 229

  reasoning, human capacity for, 13–17, 18–19

  red dwarfs, 131

  Red Mars (Stanley), 174

  Red Scare, 141

  Redstone rocket, 36–37, 71

  reindeer, 119–20

  remote sensing, 175–91, 224

  RepRap Project, 227

  reproduction, sexual, 6, 172

  Ride, Sally, 74

  “Right Stuff,” as term, 71, 114

  Right Stuff, The (Wolfe), 272

  Ringworld series (Niven), 253

  risk:

  as basic to human nature, 9, 262

  genetic factor in, 10–12

  of living on Mars, 167–70

  in pushing human limits, 120

  of space tourism, 102, 105–9, 155

  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

  Sol
arCity, 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 (continued)

  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

&
nbsp; 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

  terraforming, 172–74, 182, 216–17, 227

  terrestrial exoplanets, incidence of, 128, 129, 216, 241

  terrorism, 152–53

  Tesla, Nikola, 237

  Tesla Motors, 96–97, 97

  test pilots, 71–74, 272

  Tethers Unlimited, 226

  Thales, 18–19

  “There’s Plenty of Room at the Bottom” (Feynman), 180

  thought experiments:

  and birth of science, 19

  for Dyson sphere, 253–54

  of Newton, 25

  on self-replication, 226–27

  3-D fabrication, 159, 160, 226–27, 226

  thrust, in flight, 68–69, 72, 186, 220, 222–23

  thymine, 6

  Timbisha tribe, 118–19

  Titan, 53, 125, 177, 182, 278

  Tito, Dennis, 75, 170

  Toba supervolcano, 202

  toilets, in space travel, 116–17

  Tokyo Broadcasting System, 75

  tortoises, in space research, 49

  Tower of Babel, 148

  “Tranquility” (toilet), 117

  transhumanism, 207–8

  transit method, exoplanet detection by, 128–29, 128, 129, 130–31

  “Transmission of Information by Extraterrestrial Civilizations” (Kardashev), 253

  transporter devices, 228–32

  TrES-2B (exoplanet), 132

  tricorder devices, 92

  Tristan da Cunha, 202–3

  “True Story, A” (Lucian of Samosata), 20

  Truman, Harry, 36

  Tsiolkovsky, Konstantin Eduardovich, 26–28, 36, 72, 110, 149, 268

  rocket equation of, see rocket equation

  Turing, Alan, 258–59

  twin research studies, 98

  Tziolas, Andreas, 224

  UFOs, 142

  belief in, 102, 238

  proported sightings of, 239, 240

  Ulam, Stanislaw, 221

  uncertainty principle, 229–30, 291

  United Arab Emirates (UAE), 106

  United Nations, 47, 141, 145, 147, 214

  General Assembly, 42

  Moon Treaty of, 279

  United States, 141

  bureaucracy of, 105–9

  China’s relations with, 144

  energy consumption of, 222

  founding of, 109

  government shutdown of 2013 in, 63–64

  rocket development in, 28–30, 35–39

  space policy debate in, 146–47

  space program of, 38, 40–45, 47, 50, 51, 55–56, 56, 63–64, 72, 74–75, 107, 140–141, 140, 154, 184, 195, 296, 271; see also National Aeronautics and Space Administration

  in World War II, 34

 

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