Read Beyond: Our Future in Space Online
Authors: Chris Impey
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
International Geophysical Year (1957–1958), 37
International Institute of Air and Space Law, 199
International MicroSpace, 90
International Scientific Lunar Observatory, 157
International Space Station, 55, 64–65,
64
, 71, 75, 91, 96,
100
, 102, 142, 143, 144, 151, 153, 154, 159, 178–79,
179
, 185, 272, 275
living conditions on, 116–17
as staging point, 148
supply runs to, 100–101, 104
International Space University, 90
International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR), 105–6, 144
Internet:
Congressional legislation on, 78, 144
development of, 76–77,
77
, 94, 95, 271
erroneous predictions about, 213–14
limitations of, 66–67
robotics and, 206
space travel compared to, 76–80,
77
,
80
Internet Service Providers (ISPs), 78
interstellar travel, 215–18
energy technology for, 219–24
four approaches to, 251–52
scale model for, 219
Intrepid rovers, 165
Inuit people, 120
Io, 53, 177
property rights on, 145
“iron curtain,” 35
Iron Man
, 95
isolation, psychological impact of, 169–70
Jacob’s Ladder, 149
Jade Rabbit (“Yutu”), 139, 143, 161
Japan, 161, 273
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), 184
Jefferson, Thomas, 224
Jemison, Mae, 224
jet engines, 69–70
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 141
Johnson, Lyndon, 38, 42, 45, 158, 269
Johnson Space Center, 76, 104,
179
,
206
, 229, 269
see also
Mission Control
Jones, Stephanie Tubbs, 74
Joules per kilogram (MJ/kg), 219–20, 222
Journalist in Space program, 74
“junk” DNA, 10, 266
Juno probe, 228
Jupiter, 126, 127, 177, 217, 270
distance from Earth to, 50
moons of, 97, 125,
125
probes to, 51–52, 228
as uninhabitable, 125
Justin (robot), 178
Kaku, Michio, 253
Karash, Yuri, 65
Kardashev, Nikolai, 253
Kardashev scale, 253,
254
, 258
Kármán line, 70,
70
, 101
Kennedy, John F., 41–43, 45
Kepler, Johannes, 183
Kepler’s law, 127
Kepler spacecraft and telescope, 128,
128
, 129–31, 218, 278
Khrushchev, Nikita, 42, 47
Kickstarter, 184
Killian, James, 38
Kline, Nathan, 205
Knight, Pete, 71
Komarov, Vladimir, 43, 108
Korean War, 141
Korolev, Sergei, 35, 37
Kraft, Norbert, 200
Krikalev, Sergei, 115
Kunza language, 119
Kurzweil, Ray, 94, 207, 259
Laika (dog), 47, 65, 269
Laliberté, Guy, 75
landings, challenges of, 51, 84–85, 170
Lang, Fritz, 28, 268
language:
of cryptography, 291
emergence of, 15, 16
of Orcas, 190
in reasoning, 13
Lansdorp, Bas, 170–71, 198–99, 282
lasers, 223, 224, 225–26, 239
pulsed, 190, 243
last common ancestor, 6, 123, 265
Late Heavy Bombardment, 172
latency, 178
lava tubes, 160
legislation, on space, 39, 78, 90, 144, 145–47, 198–200
Le Guin, Ursula K., 236–37
Leonov, Alexey, 55
L’Garde Inc., 284
Licancabur volcano, 119
Licklider, Joseph Carl Robnett “Lick,” 76–78
life:
appearance and evolution on Earth of, 172
artificial, 258
detection of, 216–18
extension of, 26, 207–8, 250–51, 259
extraterrestrial,
see
aliens, extraterrestrial
intelligent, 190, 235, 241, 243, 258
requirements of habitability for, 122–26,
125
, 129, 131–33, 241, 256–57
lifetime factor (
L
), 234–335
lift, in flight, 68–70, 83
lift-to-drag ratio, 83
light:
from binary stars, 126
as biomarker, 217
Doppler shift of, 127
momentum and energy from, 183
speed of, 178, 228–29, 250, 251
waves, 66
Lindbergh, Charles, 30, 81–82, 90–91, 268
“living off the land,” 166, 200
logic, 14, 18
Long March, 141
Long March rockets, 113, 142, 143
Long Now Foundation, 293
Los Alamos, N. Mex., 239
Los Angeles Times
, 71
Losing My Virginity
(Branson), 86, 87
Louis IX, king of France, 23
Louis XVI, king of France, 68
Lovelock, James, 286
Lowell, Percival, 163–64
Lucian of Samosata, 20
Lucretius, 18–19
Luna program, 50–51
Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, 156
Lunokhod rover, 143
Lynx rocket plane, 101
M5 fiber, 161
McAuliffe, Christa, 55, 74
Mack 3 Blackbird, 69
McKay, Chris, 173
McLellan, William, 283
magnetic implants, 207
magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), 190
magnetic sails, 186, 223
magnitude of time, 248–50,
249
Manhattan Project, 36, 221
Manifest Destiny, applied to space, 146–47, 199
Manned Habitat Unit,
169
many worlds concept, 17–20,
17
, 49, 267
Mao Zedong, 141