ISDHuB — International Space Development Hub — Hangar One/Nasa Ames Research Park
An aspect of support for the 100 year star ship program
A.H.Sinclair 11/11/11
For the formulation of a 100 year star ship prospectus and for a comprehensive and compatible100 year world view which will advance both the sciences of space exploration and the issues of a planetary sustainability we suggest the following discussion as being alternative to the more isolate modes of inquiry:
Technology
The star ship continuum may readily represent a “basket” of leading edge and advanced technologies. Some may have emerged already within theory and methodology, such as solar sail propulsion, laser beaming modus and experimental plasma, nuclear and fission designations. Some may not have emerged yet into even a hypothetical realization, even so we can expect that future research and development stylistics will evolve around themes that construe for a deeper knowledge of affective issues within fields of particle and energy physics and the notable materials sciences including experiential nanotechnologies, leading into the original, insightful and creative perspectives of purpose and applications which are found through a radical scientific advancement.
Although such remote and intense inquiry spearheads and poses for the pinnacle of a scientific acumen, it occurs within the larger designations as given by expansion into the solar system and the contemporaneous potentials for cis lunar and lunar development, asteroid investigation and mitigation frameworks and martian exploration. Therefore it may be said that although 100yss is a somewhat esoteric vehicle it is also an intrinsic and central part of the overall solar system expansion strategy. Within such community it is inevitable that the designs, products, applications and research brought forward by star ship technological perspectives will have effect for the many expedient space exploration platforms including those of expedient flight, duration and settlement.
100yss should not be considered as lying outside of main stream space exploration. it should be considered as leading out for main stream space exploration although such a position remains to be carefully established.
The star ship road map can establish such purpose, the star ship continuum is perhaps easily related to as a jigsaw or puzzle play into the limitation of investigation. How far will the paradigm penetrate, to discover newer forms of space propulsion, to discover the newer materials and techniques that will make so much more possible in so many space arenas, and finally to discover the moving edge of human insight for the material world as the star field destination comes into view.
The purpose of the star ship canonical road map is to lay out and formulate the lines of inquiry, to enable related and inter-disciplinary models and alliances and most significantly to provide the genuine and highly rational scientific background which postulates star ship development into a leading vehicle for the future world proficiencies. The 100yss road map and implementation structure delivers an evolving and supporting framework which may be construed as an immediate contingency within accurate focus for space exploration parameters and for research and development, educational and public outreach potentials
Society
The star ship is above all a very human vehicle, it occurs at the early moment when our planet, our only home base since we took the first steps towards the skies of a space faring species, faces the unprecedented dangers. As mankind must stand naked and alone to view the dawnings of the Anthropocene and the ending of the chapters of human history, we might indeed ask ourselves in such serious terms what is the value of the star ship? Yet such value is inestimable and incalculable if it is considered as being the inclusive vehicle of our temporal advancement.
In order to make the decisive intellectual leap we will need to adopt an inclusive and holistic world view in regard to the formulation of the many levels of the national and international space development prospectus. This inclusive viewpoint also represents the underlying sentiment of the global populations towards the inspiring perspectives which are proffered by the view of the vibrant blue dot, as we unfold the heaven above and reveal such remarkable qualities into the accessible forums of a human skill and knowledge. And it is all of one warp and weft, despite the multitudes of categorizations. We do not have any need to discriminate the mundane from the overview, from grass roots to earth orbit, a global mass communications and informational ability now gives us the original tools with which to steer and remake our planet earth, the original star ship into the formative venues of the planetary development dynamics whose sights are set on the stars.
How could such a dramatic deed be accomplished and why? The responsibility that science bears to humanity is classical, significant and it is well intended. Unfortunately or not science is the only universal medium, space science even more so. There is no other language apart from art or music which is spoken by all peoples everywhere, and science is bountiful.
Through space development we might enable what may turn out to be an adequate safety and security for all populations and through information and data revision we could enable what may turn out to be an adequate and globalized civil society assurance and protection. Such inevitable events are already well established and supported by a strong and friendly AI. The global community which seeks the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space may prove both capable and determined in applying and understanding such formative technologies, the technologies of space which will not only assist for each unseen and autonomous individual in fulfillment of the diverse requisites but also will propose and maintain for how each nation can readily fulfill that obligation. Space disseminates the largess, science for sustainability may give us all the resources that are needed for an equitable co-existence and for the optimal usage of our limited supply.
Space can do more, it can attempt to ensure the energy prospectus of a future world, stretching hundreds, thousands or millions of years into the future. The paradigm can now be readily analyzed, space based solar power may well turn out as the feasible model, and if not, ingenuity and technological proficiency will make sure that our complex calculations are the correct ones, that we do not run out before we have enough and that we pass through the transition with our eyes wide open. So much has been done already in these few short years, we have seen focus and motivation to find the solution before the problem catches up, global carbon trading and emissions cap for example. What turmoil and how brave and courageous mankind is in face of the unacceptable adversary of a climatic extinction.
The star ship speaks to us of annihilation also and of many other and strange things. SETI estimates the no of inhabited worlds and they are surely correct, but that is all a very long way away, and we are so infinitely small between the stars. Do we envision that the star ship will carry some survivors away, or even our DNA profile when nothing else is left, in that end time, some time soon perhaps. But much, much better than final foray, the star ship can return us to ourselves, to focus our understanding on outer space as offering the vehicle for planetary prosperity and this is the true meaning of the endowment of the mundane heaven. We can take the opportunity and or we can leave it aside. Science and space is impartial, the decision for insight is made for humanity and on behalf of humanity. The 100yss is the endowment of humanity, it will bring results even from inception as an formative ideal and we will surely understand very well that only the human can breathe life into the machine. There is nothing which is artificial here, we are the organic matrix of both our technology and our environment. Human cultures are diverse, but the threads which draw us together are universal. The ancient networks of culture, compassion and insight are enabled by the skillful tools of science, a turn around has arrived.
Putting It Together
Issue for 100yss is both technological and social in nature. But such far reaching paradigms do not readily see the light of day. The delivery of the message of a star ship enlightenment is not any propaganda it is a complex, subtle and sensitive process and supposes the alignment of the methodologies of both containment and endowment. The democracy and education of space is obtainable but only if the message for the purport of such global affinities can be readily located and disseminated.
For this reason we propose the establishment of ISDHuB at the ARC on Moffett Field in the heart of Silicon Valley. The hub may act as radical nexus and focus for 100yss going forward. A fortuitous circumstance will make this unique and iconic national and global asset quickly available, a time-line is obtainable through 2012, and public and educational provision may be established within the shortest possible term following on from the preparation of the partnership alliances and criteria. Our strategy is one of inclusion. We would expect the initiation of ISDHuB to be proposed and obtained through both US and International Space Agency subscriptions. Such entities may include the ARC Lunar Science Institute as a formative settlement model, along with many other distinguished US space science proviso according to interest and demand. The ARC based space science consortia within ISDHuB represent a basic ground and verification for the 100yss independent representation. 100yss road map is informed by such attributes and it will fulfill an appropriate and negotiating role as it carries the 100 year continuum forward. The function of the star ship is not only to envision and offer support for the advanced vehicles of a future space exploration it is also to propose the enduring parameters of the 100 year space based world view. We know our time is finite and we know that we must leave our careful design behind for the generations of the future world. We know that there are many problems that were not looked at or seen before, and we know how to easily solve most if not all of them. The future generations will continue to expand the horizons of knowledge, but the more provisions that we can consolidate now, the easier the struggle will be.
The hub can educate millions upon millions for the future of our world. For space as the vehicle of a planetary endowment, and for space as an ultimate destination.. We need a practical methodology of means. ISDHuB can supply the platform because it is an inclusive and obtainable working basis for this world and the worlds beyond. The diffusion of insight and appreciation is complex and personal, and that is how the democracy of space is truly represented. The research and development of 100yss may be supported by ISDHuB continuum over all the ensuing multitudes of years. Of course any physical building only stands for a certain amount of time, but the partnership that ISDHuB will bring and the enduring message that it will undertake will live on through all the vicissitudes, because the education of a peoples, a nations and a planet for the journey to the beyond, is not anything irrelevant.
I don’t think your vision is adequately informed by previous human migrations, either by individual human psychology or by economics.
Most of the settlers in the New World were running away from something (oppression because of religion, death sentence because of crime, etc.,) or were hoping to make lots of money. The two most successful colonies (Jamestown and Salt Lake City) were founded when the cost for the technology for establishing them dropped to the point where a hundred or so upper-middle class citizens could sell their businesses and homes to buy passage and tools for their families to live in the new lands. But more important, they needed an overriding reason to do this, and in both cases, they wanted to be free to practice their religion freely.
The present human migration is probably only to discover something more about where we are already. Expansion into the solar system takes a long time, a first task for any space development paradigm would be to create a sustainable planet. Reason why is to survive, but then the economics of survival are not going to be up for sale.
I like the theme in this article of the starship as more than a literal means of transportation but also a cultural vehicle of scientific, environmental, and social progress. I think this notion synchronizes well with DARPA’s original stated intensions for 100YSS–which seem to be commonly overlooked. A key difference between the Space Race of the past and the bureaucratic space agencies of today is the shared cultural imperative of the Space Race spanning even across the Cold War geopolitical divides. Nationalist competition, certainly, but there was an aspiration of the ultimate ‘prize’ being civilizations’ collectively. Today, space has no clear purpose on a social level, no definitive cultural aspiration, and thus its pursuit has become the private interest of a bureaucratically cloistered community of specialists and an extravagant easily-mocked hobby for a few upper-class eccentrics. There is a fundamental cynicism in our contemporary western culture toward any notion of a positive future. We’ve now very comfortable with dystopia. Our sense of humor is a gallows humor liberally seasoned in schadenfreude. And so it is difficult to merely cheerlead for space. One must find new ‘hooks’ for its cultural relevance. Links to contemporary issues. Ways to make it important to our everyday lives. And, most importantly, new means of social participation.
I would be interested in learning more about the ISDhub, its purpose, functions, and physical facilities. This article could have used more detail on that, given that it’s in the title.
See online for more information on Hangar One. wikepedia, website NASA Ames, Save Hangar One Committee is local group for rehabilitation issues. Also Air Space West Foundation for aspect via Smithsonian Institute. At present ISDHuB is open concept for multi-use prospectus .
A time frame for H1 rehabilitation, planning and phased implementations is about two years 2012/2013 which fits with the 100 yss study schedule.
I hope that Lifeboat might construe as some partner for the project, depending on circumstance, We should know something more once the DARPA award is made , at least for the possibility of 100yss enterprise establishing as ISDHuB central focus and integrated mission.
Cryopreservation is the critical technology for star flight. But the ramifications are incredible. A “great rescue” would start the moment a way to freeze people and revive them is made public. The entire planet would be scrambling to put our elderly and terminally ill into “cryostasis” or whatever term is eventually to be used.
I know it is going to happen. It is just a question of when.
Oh lovely, I can’t wait to see the frozen global graveyard awaiting resurrection. If human life is so valuable and of course it is inestimable , why has it been so very difficult to figure out how all human birth would at least have the clear necessity for survival , let alone any post mortem recovery. The ramifications for the “great rescue” plan are also religious ones , what happens to human souls if they are summoned back to previous corporeal habitats for instance.
“can’t wait to see the frozen global graveyard awaiting resurrection”
You are a glass half empty person it seems. You can select yourself out of existence if you want, I prefer to live.
I expect you will , people sometimes get what they ask for