Robert Zubrin, founder of the Mars Society, and president of Pioneer Astro, wrote this excellent book about why space travel and exploitation need to be taken much more seriously. He published this in 2019, when the United States was more stable; it seems unlikely that space travel can be taken seriously in the United States when the country is thought by many to be on the verge of civil war.
That’s too bad, because going into space would solve many problems. Jobs would be created on Earth and in orbit, or even on Mars or in the Asteroid Belt. Planetary defense against incoming asteroids and meteors would become possible. Zubrin goes into detail about how this would be done. He gives technical descriptions on how mining the Moon and Mars would work, discusses the main problem of space access (cost of launch), and discusses the possibility of orbital solar power. Zubrin also explores different methods of propulsion, such as nuclear fission, nuclear fusion, plasma sails, laser sails, and antimatter. I appreciated Zubrin’s rigorous but understandable explanations about different sources of energy and different methods of propulsion.
Zubrin also discusses whether humans going into space will meet space aliens. It’s nice to read something sober but optimistic on the subject. He cites recent discoveries of many extrasolar planets but pours cold water on the notion of alien invasions. It is possible that there are other civilizations out there – there have been some tantalizing hints lately. Space-based astronomy, both radio and visual, would make it easier to find out by listening in on frequencies likely to be used, or to be able to look at star systems which might have spacefaring civilizations. (In Pale Blue Dot, Carl Sagan noted that an observatory in space near the edge of the Solar System would be able to take advantage of gravitational lensing for radioastronomy.)
The most important matter that Zubrin discusses is the human need for a frontier. “Can a free, egalitarian, democratic, innovating society with a can-do spirit be preserved in the absence of room to grow?” he asks. He describes the stagnation of the United States: the endless proliferation of laws and regulations, an out-of-touch bureaucracy, a reluctance to engage in major projects, the shallowness of pop culture, and the loss of national confidence. Zubrin states that opening space will allow many different cultures to evolve and flourish on many different colonies in the Asteroid Belt, the Moon, Mars, and even in the Oort Cloud – a cloud of comets outside the Solar System. The key points here are that the colonies will be far enough away from Earth so that governments and bureaucracies cannot easily interfere, and that there is enough space for many colonies, each with its own outlook, to be founded.
He’s partly right. Different colonies on different worlds with different requirements will inevitably evolve different cultures. People could move to colonies where they feel at home. But they might not all be free, egalitarian, or democratic. For example, a thriving dictatorship such as China might very well be able to set up a few colonies – and those will not be free. We cannot expect that dictatorships will magically be transformed into democratic republics simply because space travel becomes cheaper. Furthermore, the difference between the American frontier (or other frontiers on Earth) and the space frontier is this: no sophisticated equipment was needed. An American settler who did not like his surroundings could simply hit the trail. The air was free to breathe, the water was free to drink, the plants and animals were free to eat. None of this will be true on Mars or in the Asteroid Belt. It’s hard to escape the colonial government when lots of sophisticated equipment is needed to do so.
Similarly, Zubrin believes that a major push into space would put an end to warfare. After all, many wars are fought over resources. (For example, why fight over oil when fusion or orbital solar become the main providers of energy? Why fight over rare earth elements when they are available in the Asteroid Belt?) He’s right that the United States should spend more effort on space and less effort on foreign military adventures here on Earth. However, resources aren’t the only reason for war. Political, religious, and national conflicts wouldn’t magically disappear if more resources were available. Furthermore, resource wars might not end; it’s easy to imagine a war over who gets to mine an especially valuable asteroid, or over who gets to colonize a given part of the Moon or Mars. Similarly, long-standing conflicts (such as who gets to control Jerusalem) will not be resolved by a major push into space. Lastly, it seems unlikely that a major push into space will not solve the current racial and political splits in the United States.
With all that said, however, Zubrin is right. Going into space would help a lot. Establishing space colonies, either in orbit or in the Asteroid Belt or on Mars, would provide jobs, energy, knowledge, and physical resources – four of the keys to prosperity. (The fifth is liberty.) It would also provide different colonies with different cultures for people to choose from. Providing these choices would serve as a safety valve to prevent conflict – go join those who look like you, think like you, or pray like you. The United States had something like this once; it was called federalism. The idea was that the fifty states would be allowed great latitude to decide their own laws. Nowadays, much more is decided by the federal government. Hence the bitter hatred and distrust between left and right – each fears that the other will use the power of the federal government against it.
This book is a needed dose of optimism in these pessimistic times. Zubrin encourages us all to be space activists, whether through joining his Mars Society, or other groups, or lobbying your political representatives on your own. Better yet, don’t just write to your representatives – if you’re wealthy enough, offer a large campaign contribution to get them to take space more seriously. Politicians are always more interested in those than the knowledge and expansion that Dr. Zubrin advocates. Let’s be cynical and say that buying off some politicians in exchange for a vastly improved space program might be a long-term bargain for our country.