We need to buy time — let’s block some of the heat energy from the sun
A few weeks ago a new Mars Rover landed, SpaceX is continuing the tests on the new rockets and the rest of us are still fighting the global pandemic.
Humanity is (hopefully) approaching a day of becoming a truly interplanetary species. We would like to know more about how society would look like in the future when space colonisation is normal.
We asked Les Johnson, sci-fi author & NASA scientist how he sees the future. Here is the transcript of the interview written by Igor Zacek & Adam Gala
Question #1: How will the permanent presence of Humans in space on the mass scale change humanity?
Once we have commercial spaceflight, with the capability to take people to the Moon and Mars, our society will be profoundly changed. Changed because we will become more aware that this beautiful, small, and seemingly fragile place we call home is an oasis for life in an otherwise hostile universe.
We will also likely begin to ask some of the “big” questions’ that our ancestors pondered as they stared at the starry sky with wonder.
Who am I in the grand scheme of things?
What is our place (my place!) in the universe?
Is anyone out there?
Sadly, these are questions that not many people take the time to consider today. Instead, we tend to spend our time looking at our screens while mostly staying inside our homes in and around our cities. When we look at the starry sky, big questions are inevitably asked. How can you not???
Once considered, people tend to get more introspective and thoughtful toward each other and realize they tend, in the grand scheme of things, to spend too much time on things that don’t really matter.
Question #2: How will mass space exploration impact our global economic landscape?
I think new industries will be developed in a way that we can’t even imagine today. If we have the capability to take people affordably all the way to Mars, then we will be able to affordably build space solar power stations in Earth orbit to help solve the climate change problem.
We may also take the first steps toward implementing a solar sail based sunshade at the Earth-Sun L1 (Lagrange point) to block some of the heat energy from the sun in light to help mitigate the effects of climate change. Until we become better than carbon neutral and get carbon out of the atmosphere. We need to buy time.
Commercial spaceflight and the economies of scale that come with it may enable us to make that happen. For more information about how this might work, check out this paper: Dyson Dots: Changing the solar constant to a variable with photovoltaic lightsails — ScienceDirect
In order to get us to the Moon and Mars sustainably, we need to begin thinking beyond the traditional notion of mass production, dual redundancy, and taking spare parts for critical systems on our journeys. We must embrace 3D printing and additive manufacturing, which will be particularly important on the Moon and Mars so that there is not a need for spare parts and a constant flow of supplies from the home planet to the bases there.
Instead, tour explorers and settlers must use the raw materials present to make what they need and prepare for the next generation of settlers. 3D printers are now being tested in space, with one flying aboard the International Space Station. Even rocket engines are being 3D printed — though not yet in space.
Question #3: Do we need to change our education system to achieve space exploration?
I think we need to focus on the fundamentals of having a literate workforce, not only in science and technology, since not everyone can be a scientist or an engineer. Future generations must have a solid understanding of history, civil engagement, and the philosophy of science and be prepared to become lifelong learners.
Education should no longer be just a means to get a job!
College degrees used to mean you had a well-rounded education and were ready to be a citizen in your country. Many degrees conferred today have devolved to be nothing more than glorified vocational training or academic training in subjects that have little or no relevance to being an informed citizen. I am a firm believer in the classical liberal arts and see value in subjects ranging from the natural sciences to the arts, language and literature, as well as sociology, psychology, and political science among many others.
Short Bio:
Les Johnson is a husband, father, physicist, and author of science fiction/science fact. His latest non-fiction book about the new wonder material, Graphene, was reviewed in Nature, excerpted in American Scientist and Salon.Com. His next novel, Saving Proxima, with co-author Travis Taylor, will be released by Baen Books in hardcover in the summer of 2021.
In his “day job”, he works in the Science and Technology Office at the NASA George C. Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama where he serves as the Solar Sail Principal Investigator for NASA’s first interplanetary solar sail mission, the Near Earth Asteroid Scout and the Principal Investigator of the Solar Cruiser mission.
Written by Igor Zacek & Adam Gala
