Monday, November 12, 2007

On the Usefulness of Space Endeavors


Black swans exist and will touch your life, regardless of your nature, nuture, history, or beliefs.

The Troubles With Thinking

Exploration of space and exploitation of space resources is costly in terms of material, time and human life. The value of activities to, through and in space must outweigh its attendant costs to be sustainable. I can find only one objective need for humans to become space-faring, one reason that clearly enunciates a need commensurate with the costs of the endeavor. The understanding itself of that need is faced with fundamental obstacles within human rationality that are rarely ever surmounted. The need itself can be called an "outside context problem" (coined by Iain M. Banks in his novel Excession) and is extraordinarily difficult for anyone to objectively consider, regardless of one's intelligence, education or experience. Cognitive bias and heuristics are so powerful and ingrained in people that an objective analysis of any "outside context problem" is very difficult and, in fact, intellectually dangerous.

The proposition is simply this: the development of human infrastructure in space is necessary and sufficient to avert the extinction of the human species. To do otherwise is sheer folly. Further, all other justifications for becoming a space-faring species pale in benefit when compared against this need. However, computing the monetary value of averting human extinction will be an extreme challenge. Unlike the more readily understood justifications, the value of averting human extinction cannot be objectively computed beforehand; it must simply be taken as "immense".

That's just the beginning - there's more to read here ...

Sunday, October 14, 2007

For What Purpose Cheap Access to Space?



All things are done with purpose - great or small, trivial or profound.

Old Space

The national space program of the United States began in earnest in 1957. Its purpose was not to open space to civilization, rather, its purpose was to demonstrate without delay the nation's ability to gain an enviable military high ground, earth's moon.

Science research and technological spin-offs were very valuable and, arguably, sufficient reasons for the public to support continued spending on the program. Both, however, were incidental results of the driving effort. One clue to the fact it was an unsustainable effort was seen posted at contractor facilities at the time: "Waste anything but time".

The political goal was met in 1969, some 500 million people around the world were witness. It was, then, over. The nationally-funded efforts in space changed direction, away from ideological one-upmanship to pragmatic authority over a newly opened dominion. The tremendous mechanism that actualized men on the moon was scaled back, but not eliminated, focusing now on the strategic ground in between called earth orbit.

It is unfortunate that so many starry-eyed "space cadets" were allowed to believe that the national space program was gearing up for a "Spage Age" of civilization. In reality, no matter what scenarios have been published suggesting otherwise, it was and is predominantly about maintaining control of an area.

That's just the beginning - there's more to read here ...

Saturday, October 13, 2007

A Sense of Responsibility



Isn't it interesting how groups can act with myopic irresponsibility?

A recent action by the Chinese has increased the risk to any property or lives on orbit around the earth for thousands of years to come. Yet these same people have stated their intent to establish a permanent space station as well as visit the moon quite soon.

According to an article in Aviation Week & Space Technology, published January 18, 2007, an aging weather satellite was the successful target of a "kinetic kill vehicle launched on board a ballistic missile." David Wright, of the Union of Concerned Scientists, as reported by MSNBC, stated that the target satellite could have created nearly 40,000 fragments between 1 and 10 centimeters in size. Mr. Wright also made a statement to New Scientist, in an article published January 20, 2007, that this action has doubled "the amount of debris of that size at similar altitudes". It should be no surprise to learn that, as reported by New Scientist, that this action "may also have created 2 million fragments wider than 1 millimetre across".

That's just the beginning - there's more to read here ...

What's In A Name?


he·li·o·space (ˈhē-lē-oˌ-spās), n. [neologism based on the ancient greek helios, mythological sun god, and outer space] 1. The volume populated with objects in orbit around our sun. 2. The space beyond earth's atmosphere and within the solar system. 3. All elements and systems that compose the volume influenced by the sun. -- SYN. "everything and everywhere under the sun".