by Eric Klein
Luna (Earth’s Moon) Administered by: United States of America
With the discovery of water ice near the South Pole and various other sources, colonization on Luna is a logistical necessity for activity beyond Earth’s orbit. The ability to create fuel and materials for construction of ships and stations without the cost of fighting Earth’s gravity made this a necessary first step until anti-gravity came along.
Mars (Planet) Administered by: United States of America
With the discovery of large water deposits that are easy to reach, and the competition to get people there first, Mars is likely to get a manned station even before the Moon. If enough water and CO2 can be brought/released to start a greenhouse effect and warm the planet, it is possible that we will be able to terraform it to the point that being outside is similar to being in high altitude places on Earth. Terraforming was started by installing a Magnetotail to reduce the dangerous radiation hitting Mars, which also enables the atmosphere to warm up naturally.
EM1, EM2, EM3 (Earth-Mars 1 to 3)Administered by: the UN
Originally built as a joint NASA and ESA project, they are now run by the UN as emergency stop and fueling points between the Earth and Mars. These are former asteroids that have been moved into a new orbit halfway between those of the Earth and Mars, and they are located at the 3 Trojan points so that one is always relatively close by should it be needed. They have minimal facilities as they are not meant as destinations. Staff is there on six-month rotating terms of duty. Originally, it was considered a dangerous posting as six months without gravity plus travel time was considered extreme conditions. Now, with artificial gravity, it is like any other assignment in a far-off and boring post.
Ceres (representing the habitats in the asteroid belt - dwarf planet, largest object in the asteroid belt) Administered by: the UN as the solar system administrative office for non-Earth activities.
The theory that it has a solid metal center and some form of subsurface water make this a perfect local base of operations for exploiting the asteroid belt.
Ganymede (Jupiter III, 3rd closest and largest moon) Administered by: United States of America
This is probably going to be the easiest place to terraform. It already has an atmosphere with oxygen. It has a lot of water ice as well as an active molten core. Properly heated, the oxygen and CO2 that are there could, in theory, keep it warm enough for people to be outside unprotected.
Callisto (Jupiter’s IV) Administered by: Russia
Like Venus, one day and one orbit are the same: in this case, 18.7 Earth days. All in all, it struck me that Callisto is much like Northern Siberia, cold frozen soil full of ice. But having the water ice, it was a suitable place to try to colonize.
In 2003 NASA performed a thought experiment about colonization, and their study seemed to indicate that based on the water content, Callisto was perfect as a fueling and waystation for the rest of the solar system. Given the proximity of Jupiter, and NASA’s penchant for gravity-assist missions, this concept seems perfect for pre-constant-boost spaceships.
Europa (Jupiter’s VI moon)Administered by: China
Europa is completely covered with water ice. In the novel 2001: A Space Odyssey, mankind received the message “All These Worlds Are Yours Except Europa. Attempt No Landing There. Use Them Together. Use Them in Peace.” But in the sequel, China had built what they told the world was a space station until it rocketed out of orbit at high speed to Europa. This ship, the Tsien, raced past the Soviet-American crew to land. This landing turned out to be fatal to the ship and crew as Europa was not lifeless. In honor of this part of Arthur C. Clarke’s novel, I let China keep Europa.
Mimas, the “Death Star moon” (Saturn I moon) Administered by: United Kingdom
When I started to look at possible tourist ideas, the thought of playing up the Death Star angle was too cool to pass up. By 2152 all of the copyrights to everything Star Wars should have expired and the collector’s material should be increasingly rare. Having seen what fan groups like the 501st Legion are doing in terms of creating costumes, fan videos, etc., it seemed appropriate that this could continue in the future. With 3D printing of costumes, adding in the idea of a costumed dinner theater seemed better. I envision it as being like the Star Trek TOS episode “Journey to Babel” as a diplomatic event. In this case, it would be the various Senators and dignitaries of the Empire with locals playing the Emperor, Vader, etc.
In this case, I gave administration to the United Kingdom in consideration for the fact that much of the movies were filmed there, thus keeping that link alive.
Dione (Saturn IV moon) Administered by: South Korea
Rhea (Saturn V, 2nd largest moon) Administered by: United States of America
Rhea is composed almost entirely of ice, with traces of rock mixed in, causing it to resemble a dirty snowball and is the only known celestial body outside of Earth to have a natural oxygen atmosphere.
Enceladus (Saturn’s 6th-largest moon) Administered by: Brazil
The colony is near the center of what Carl Franzen of Popular Science called the “Y-shaped ‘tentacle’ feature” near the South Pole, as this is an area with materials that were pushed up from below the surface and an ideal place to drill to reach the subsurface water. This also allows tapping the geysers for water, heat, and power, as Saturn’s gravitational pull fills and jets the water out of the subsurface slots.
Titan (Saturn VI and largest moon) Administered by: Saudi Arabia
Realizing that this is a moon that in many ways is the exact opposite of the majority of OPEC nations: oil on the surface and water underground, it seemed natural that Saudi Arabia would be the one most eager to colonize.
Dr. Robert Zubrin has also stated that Titan is the most important of these moons when it comes to building a base to develop the system’s resources.
Titan possesses an abundance of all the elements necessary to support life, such as atmospheric nitrogen and methane, liquid methane, and liquid water and ammonia. Water could easily be used to generate breathable oxygen, and nitrogen is ideal as a buffer gas to create a pressurized, breathable atmosphere. In addition, nitrogen, methane, and ammonia could all be used to produce fertilizer for growing food.
Additionally, Titan has an atmospheric pressure one and a half times that of Earth.
For the novel, since Saudi Arabia is not currently a launch-capable nation (and given their relationship with Iran) it is unlikely that they will develop launch capacities on their own soil. The idea that they could sneak past the rest of the nations to do the unexpected is plausible, however, and the need for their young men to prove themselves capable in order to marry is consistent with historical, if not current, cultural practices. In fact, the idea of praying towards the Earth as what is needed to meet the five daily prayers makes sense as they pray facing Mecca in Saudi Arabia, and from Titan pointing at Earth would be the same thing and easier to calculate.
Umbriel (Uranus II moon) Administered by: India
Titania (Uranus III and Uranus’ largest moon) Administered by: Japan
Oberon (Uranus IV moon) Administered by: United States of America
Triton (Neptune’s largest moon) Administered by: Israel
Charon (Pluto’s moon) Administered by: EU
Haumea (Dwarf planet in the Kuiper Belt) Administered by: China
Skull asteroid - Asteroid 2015 TB145Administered by: N/A
This estimated 1,300-foot- (400-meter) wide asteroid was first spotted on October 10, 2015, by NASA’s Near-Earth Object Observation (NEOO) Program using the University of Hawaii’s Pan-STARRS-1 (Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System) in Haleakala, Maui. It was predicted to pass relatively close to the Earth that Halloween. After calculating its orbit, NASA has determined that it will not approach closer than 1.3 times the distance of Luna, Earth’s moon. A whimsical coincidence appeared when the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico on October 30, 2015, captured a radar image of the asteroid “revealing its ee
rie skull shape.” The actual orbit data was also calculated by NASA, and the closest approach to the Earth during the time of this book is 11 October 2152 at 06:06 TDB (Terrestrial Dynamical Time). This asteroid has an unusual orbit, as it goes above and below the plane on which the planets rotate around the Sun, and thus more closely resembles the orbit of a comet.
This particular asteroid was chosen for the story as it paralleled the original Skull Island, the home and discovery place of King Kong, thus keeping up the ongoing theme.
SymposiumThe symposium is designed to be a combination of presentations about the current state of the art and levels of colonization and terraforming of select colonies, with workshops to discuss various topics, such as expanding communication speeds, faster-than-light travel, extra-solar exploration and colonization, improvements to the colonization setup, advancing terraforming, etc.
Collier’s magazine sponsored a gathering of the world’s greatest space experts, and then ran a number of articles about these. The original was in March 1952, and the articles ran until 1954. Unfortunately, most of their ideas were not implemented, and it took an extra ten years for the first Moon landing.
PageantThe Miss Universe pageant was founded in 1952. In the original the contestants would compete for beauty in various outfits (such as swimsuit and evening dress) as well as talent. These talents tended to range from baton twirling to playing the piano.
The pageant has advanced from its origins as predominantly a beauty pageant. In this book, the contestants (genetically female or transgendered female) compete based on various intellectual and talent categories. For example, each contestant needs to present a technical or advancement project they have participated in for the betterment of society. Also, they have prerequisites for education and must pass physical and mental tests to qualify. Some of the contestants have been surgically repaired, or in some cases enhanced. Discrimination based on race, sexual or mental orientation, physical handicap, or enhancement are all prohibited.
The story takes the first attempt to make a truly solar-system-wide event out of the contest, with competition or demonstrations at each of the stops. The lectures about their projects take place on the ship, and everything is simulcast via the ansible around the system.
About the Author
I’m a lifelong science fiction and fantasy reader but have always enjoyed those stories that show how the science and technology can affect people’s lives. By day I work in hi-tech, lecturing on telecom security (at the hardware level, not about the people who use phones to commit fraud). Over the years I have worked in a variety of fields supporting different companies via their data communications networks, starting in help desk and moving to designing multinational networks.
As I have done quite a bit of travel for fun and business, I have included events in the story that are based on my own experiences. For example, several years ago I accompanied my wife to an International Scientific Congress in Montreal. That particular week had several major events going on in the city. Other than the congress, there was a weeklong comedy street fair (think jugglers, mimes, other performers, shows, and street art like a tree made out of circuit boards), and the North American Gay and Lesbian Choir competition. As you can see it was a very mixed crowd. Some of those events have been recreated in the story.
The photo above is another example of my travels. In 2015 I was attending a telecom conference in Orlando, and I organized a field trip out to the Kennedy Space Center for 25 telecom geeks. One of the options was to take a simulator ride into space, but before you entered the simulator they took group photos that were cropped into space suits. Hence that photo. Another amusing part of that trip was that there was a local Star Wars fan group onsite with us. They had been part of a school outreach program and had some free time to wander the center. I also have a photo of me, a Jedi, and a Stormtrooper in front of the original Gemini capsule.
As mentioned in the acknowledgment section, I’m married to a wonderful (and tolerant) scientist who had two great children when we met. Now I’m the grandfather to her daughter’s son (grandparenting is wonderful) and he makes an appearance in the story, too (you can guess as whom).
Sources and Citations
Books used for City Names
Luna City: from various Robert A. Heinlein stories such as “It’s Great to Be Back!,” The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, and The Man Who Sold the Moon.
Cloud City, Venus: both George Lucas’ The Empire Strikes Back and NASA’s proposed plan of the same name.
Helium, Mars: Edgar Rice Burroughs in the John Carter of Mars series.
Hydropole, Ganymede, moon of Jupiter: comes from a short story started by Stanley G. Weinbaum, who completed only a page and a half of the story before his death, and that his sister Helen Weinbaum completed the book.
Nivia, Titan, moon of Saturn: by Stanley G. Weinbaum.
Science References
Chapter 9
A Man on the Moon. By Andrew Chaikin, published August 28, 2007 by Penguin. p. 585. ISBN 014311235X.
“Goddard, Jacqui (2009-07-20). 40 years on Armstrong recalls ‘step for mankind’”. The Scotsman (Edinburgh). Retrieved on 2009-07-20 from http://news.scotsman.com/latestnews/40-years-on-Armstrong-recalls.5473710.jp.
Phillips, Iain Zaczek Charles (2009) The Complete Book of Tartan. Lorenz. Retrieved 2 June 2010.
“The Moon Smells: Apollo Astronauts Describe Lunar Aroma” By Leonard David, August 25, 2014. Retrieved 210 June 2016. http://www.space.com/26932-moon-smell-apollo-lunar-aroma.html
“Apollo 11 Lunar Surface Journal- Trying to Rest, Corrected Transcript and Commentary” Copyright © 1995, Retrieved 10 June 2016. http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a11/a11.posteva.html
Chapter 10
“The Great 1952 Space Program That Almost Was” by Ron Miller 31 July 2013 Retrieved 9 July 2016 http://io9.gizmodo.com/the-great-1952-space-program-453511252
“The Great 1952 Space Program That Almost Was” by Ron Miller 31 July 2013 Retrieved 9 July 2016 http://io9.gizmodo.com/the-great-1952-space-program-453511252
Chapter 14
“Huge Underground Ice Deposit on Mars Is Bigger Than New Mexico” By Mike Wall. Published 22 November 2016, retrieved 23 November 2016, retrieved http://www.space.com/34811-mars-ice-more-water-than-lake-superior.html
“Chelation therapy and chelating agents of Ayurveda” by Shruti Pandey, Vinamra Sharma, and Anand Kumar Chaudhar in International Journal of Green Pharmacy • -Sep 2016 • 10 (3) | 144, http://greenpharmacy.info/index.php/ijgp/article/view/672 retrieved 5 November 2016.
“Effect of increased gravitational acceleration in potato deep-fat frying” by John S. Lioumbas and Thodoris D. Karapantsios in Food Research International 55 (2014) pages 110–118 http://karapant.webpages.auth.gr/wp-content/publications/2014/A100_Lioumbas_Karapantsios_FRI_2014_.pdf Retrieved 7 November 2016
Chapter 15
“The collapse of Io’s primary atmosphere in Jupiter eclipse” by onstantine C. C. Tsang, John R. Spencer, Emmanuel Lellouch,Miguel A. Lopez-Valverde, and Matthew J. Richter. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2016JE005025/abstract, Retrieved 2 August 2016, Published 2 August 2016
Science Citations
Sources for the ideas used in this book came from many sources, and any mistakes in the assumptions derived from them are purely my own. Here are the sources as described in Appendix 3: Science and are listed in sequence.
“The 1960 Plan to Put a Dome Over Midtown Manhattan” by Jen Carlson in the Gothamist on 8 March 2008. Retrieved 28 March 2016. http://gothamist.com/2012/03/08/the_1960_plan_to_put_a_dome_over_mi.php
“Ordeal in Space” By Robert A. Heinlein, originally published in Town & Country, May 1948.
“This fully transparent solar cell could make every window and screen a power source” by Jamie Lendino on 20 April 2015. Retrieved 28 March 2016 http:
//www.extremetech.com/extreme/188667-a-fully-transparent-solar-cell-that-could-make-every-window-and-screen-a-power-source
Dick Tracy Comic, by Chester Gould first appeared on 13 January 1946
“Sousveillance: Inventing and Using Wearable Computing Devices for Data Collection in Surveillance Environments” By Steve Mann, Jason Nolan, and Barry Wellman in Surveillance Society 1(3): 331-355 Published in 2003 Retrieved 30 March 2016 http://www.surveillance-and-society.org/articles1(3)/sousveillance.pdf
“‘Diamond-age’ of power generation as nuclear batteries developed” 25 November 2016 retrieved 4 December 2016. http://www.bristol.ac.uk/news/2016/november/diamond-power.html
“What is a Hologram?” By the Holocenter. Retrieved 4 April 2016. http://holocenter.org/what-is-holography/
“Real-time holographic displays one step closer to reality“ by Calum Williams. 16 Mar 2015. Retrieved 4 April 2016. http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/real-time-holographic-displays-one-step-closer-to-reality#sthash.DPuOgD55.dpuf
“Engineered pixels using active plasmonic holograms with liquid crystals” By Calum Williams, Yunuen Montelongo, Jaime Oscar Tenorio-Pearl, Andrea Cabrero-Vilatela, Stephan Hofmann, William I. Milne and Timothy D. Wilkinson in Rapid Research Letter. February 2015. Retrieved 4 April 2016. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/pssr.201409524/abstract
“20 Crucial Terms Every 21st Century Futurist Should Know” By George Dvorsky. Published 29 March 2016. Retrieved on 29 March 2016 http://io9.gizmodo.com/20-crucial-terms-every-21st-century-futurist-should-kno-1545499202