Post on 03-Jan-2016
ReconnectionBringing Space Down To Earth
SPACE Retreat, Tenerife, 15 Jan 2013
Alan Pritchard MSS MSc &c.
en Systems ef
alan.pritchard@adinfinitum.se
(and Rincon the Cat)
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"We have made remarkable progress in the last hundred years. But if we want to continue
beyond the next hundred years, our future is in space."
- Stephen Hawking
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Historical Approaches
• Tech heavy– Militaristic– Antagonistic– Exclusionist– Expansionist– Separate
• Dualist
-> Unsustainable-> Expensive-> Messy-> Stagnant
SpaceNot Space
MY orbit!Magic
Invisible Boundary
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Current Approaches
• Still tech heavy– Now Opportunistic– More Participatory– More Aware– Consolidationalist– Still Separate
• Still Dualist
-> Fragmented-> Expensive-> Fuzzy-> "Orbital"
SpaceStill
Not Space
Rented Orbit
Magic Invisible
Boundary
Been Here, Still Doing That
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Space Benefits Now
INFORMATION
MONEY
TECH
MATERIEL
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What's Wrong With This Picture?• Tech-heavy with low tech return -
difficult to justify space to "non-believers"
• Antagonistic ('either or') - promotes only competition, not cooperation
• Members Club - dangers of "not invented here syndrome" - perpetuate flawed methods / lack innovation
• Ad-hoc (no roadmaps/vision) - unsustainable activities, waste, money sink
• Separate (space is 'out there') - difficult to explain impact of space on earth
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"We are all in the gutter, but some of are looking at the stars"
- Oscar Wilde
We Can Do Better
"I have loved the stars too fondly
to be fearful of the night."
- Sarah Williams
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A Better Way?• We will find ways to be present in space
(if we survive long enough)
• So, what is important
- why we go (more than just 'because we can')
- who gets to go (everyone)
- how we go (repeating mistakes / making new ones)
- that we see space activity as a natural extension to life on earth
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A Better Way?• Synergy- cooperative infrastructure / competitive niches
• Inclusion ('democratic')- foster participation - the more the merrier
• Continuum- Earth is in Space, flow of benefits is two way
• Evolution- Room for growth and multiple approaches- Potential to improve human condition EVERYWHERE
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A Better Way?
Unsustainable
SpaceNot
Space
Sustainable
Space
Also Space
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Some examples
• SpaceShip Earth• Spacesteading• In Situ Solar Power• Humanexus• Spaceports and Shuttles• ...
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• Space Hab Techniques and Methodologies are very informative about resource use and sustainability in Space
• Can we use Space Hab Techniques to derive information about life on SpaceShip Earth?
SpaceShip Earth
• Space: Design for x crew- Size, Supply requirements and CLSS savings
• Earth: Derive sustainable population- Carrying Capacity (key figure of merit, avoided)- Not a fixed number (e.g. tech dependent)- Qualitative effects from technologies, policies, CLSS...
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• Basic design of space homestead, with low resupply (footprint), CLSS, etc. On- or off-planet ...
• Reusable for planning on earth
- harsh/toxic environments
- disaster recovery
- good sustainable community planning
- change of mindset
SpaceSteading
-> Technomadism-> Bootstrapping-> Robustness
"Homesteading from Triton to Teide"
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In Situ Solar Power
• Make machinery that eats local silicon rich resources and excretes solar panels.
- completely robotic process
- avoids need for centralised fabrication, transport etc.
- build where the raw materials and sunlight are
- complexity only in connection and maintenance
- classic bootstrapping technology (3D print them?!)
- scaleable
- expandable (modular connection with solar heating, fuel cells, water processing, ...)
- huge terrestrial applications (think: deserts)Z
Holistic Approach to the Human Condition
Technology or Spirituality, Earth or Space, all dualist concepts, transformed to:
Technology AND Spirituality, Earth AND Space, etc.
-> Beyond Dualism and Antagonism to Synergy
The breakthroughs now are not in extremes of ideas, but in their interactions. Leverage this.
Humanexus
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Spaceports and Shuttles
• Significant effort to be put into sustainable, cooperative space infrastructure
• Key elements:
- orbital positions: depots/stations/spaceports
- transportation infrastructure: shuttles, cyclers
- regulatory environment: cf. law of the sea
- beyond national(ist) space to cooperative facilitating competitive
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"Throw your dreams into space like a kite, and you do not know what it will bring back, a new life, a new friend, a new love, a new country."
- Anais Nin
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en Systems
"In All Things, Balance"
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