Beyond: Our Future in Space (44 page)

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