Space, the Final Frontier?

by Giancarlo Genta , Michael Rycroft , Foreword by Franco Malerba , Michael Foale

• ISBN13: 9780521814034
• ISBN10: 0521814030
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-02-17
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

What are our motivations for going into space? Where does our long-term space future lie? Why, and how, should we strive to reach, if not for the stars, at least for the Moon and Mars? This exciting book looks first at the progress that has already been made in our attempts to explore and expand beyond the Earth. Current and past space technologies and space stations are described, and the effects of the space environment on the human body are explained. A discussion of the merits of the robotic exploration of space is followed by a look at our exploration of the Moon and Mars. Final chapters touch on propulsion methods required for leaving our solar system, and ask which of the possibilities for future space travel is most likely to succeed. This thought provoking book will appeal to all those with an interest in the future of space exploration.

Author Biography

Giancarlo Genta is a Professor in the Department of Mechanics at the Technical University of Turin, Italy.

Table of Contents

Foreword	xi
Franco Malerba
Foreword	xv
Michael Foale
Preface	xix
Space today	1	(67)
A dramatic beginning	1	(3)
Unfulfilled promises	4	(4)
Crisis of growth?	8	(18)
Commercial activities	26	(10)
Scientific activities	36	(14)
Military applications	50	(7)
Space and the developing countries	57	(3)
Robots or humans in space	60	(8)
The gateway to space	68	(36)
The two cosmic velocities	68	(3)
Rocket propulsion	71	(4)
Beyond the Space Shuttle	75	(12)
Non-reusable rockets	87	(4)
Spaceports	91	(1)
Guns, skyhooks and space fountains	92	(12)
Cities and factories in space?	104	(34)
Orbital labs and earlier space stations	104	(6)
The International Space Station	110	(5)
Effects of microgravity on the human body	115	(3)
Radiation and space debris	118	(3)
Space habitats	121	(7)
Energy generation in space	128	(5)
Orbital power stations	133	(3)
Light from space	136	(2)
Robots in the Solar System	138	(46)
Large interplanetary spacecraft	138	(4)
Low-cost space probes	142	(3)
Propulsion in deep space	145	(14)
Is there life on Mars?	159	(7)
New robotic planetary probes	166	(6)
Exploration of comets and asteroids	172	(7)
The Kuiper belt and the heliopause	179	(3)
The focal line of the Sun's gravitational lens	182	(2)
Back to the Moon	184	(27)
Should we return to the Moon or go straight to Mars?	184	(4)
The rationale for scientific missions on the Moon	188	(8)
Lunar outposts	196	(3)
Permanent bases	199	(8)
Private lunar bases?	207	(2)
Lunar power stations	209	(2)
Mars, the red planet	211	(45)
Dreams and projects	211	(5)
The 'Mars Outposts' approach	216	(7)
Mission planning	223	(4)
The first human beings on Mars	227	(6)
The beginning of colonisation	233	(6)
A planet to be terraformed	239	(17)
Exploitation of the solar system	256	(14)
The inner planets: Mercury and Venus	256	(6)
Mining bases in space: the asteroids	262	(2)
Energy from the giant gas planets	264	(3)
The frontier of the solar system	267	(3)
Beyond the pillars of Hercules	270	(43)
Huge distances, yet insufficient speed	270	(5)
Theoretical and practical impossibilities	275	(2)
Interstellar propulsion	277	(7)
Precursor missions	284	(2)
Millions of planets	286	(10)
The first, probable probes	296	(1)
Von Neumann probes	297	(2)
Panspermia	299	(3)
Humans beyond the solar system	302	(3)
Relativistic speeds and human expansion into our galaxy	305	(5)
Virtual travellers	310	(3)
Other lives, other civilisations	313	(32)
Life in the Universe	313	(5)
Search for extraterrestrial intelligence	318	(5)
The Drake equation	323	(4)
Cosmic ambassadors	327	(5)
Intelligent lifeforms	332	(2)
ET or Alien?	334	(3)
Humanoid characteristics	337	(6)
ET or Alien again	343	(2)
Towards a galactic civilisation	345	(15)
Breaking the speed limit	345	(7)
A global village on a galactic scale?	352	(1)
Millions of human species	353	(1)
So let's go!	354	(6)
Appendix A Distances in the solar system and beyond	360	(3)
Appendix B The basics of astrodynamics	363	(14)
Motion of projectiles in a gravitational field	363	(1)
Keplerian trajectories	364	(4)
Perturbations to Keplerian trajectories	368	(1)
Speed increments	369	(2)
Lagrange points	371	(2)
Non-linear astrodynamics	373	(2)
Relativistic astrodynamics	375	(2)
Appendix C The basics of space propulsion	377	(11)
Rocket propulsion	377	(4)
Nuclear rockets	381	(2)
Electric propulsion	383	(3)
Future propulsion technologies	386	(2)
Appendix D Common acronyms	388	(5)
Index	393