At times the authors seem overly pessimistic and I was inclined to dislike what they were saying, the book is an important caution to our discussions At times the authors seem overly pessimistic and I was inclined to dislike what they were saying, the book is an important caution to our discussions and plans of space exploration. There are major challenges with establishing and maintaining human existence in space that we have not yet solved. Perhaps their most important point is that the worst situation on Earth (climate change, etc.) is still vastly better than the most "hospitable" environment on the moon, Mars, etc (which aren't hospitable at all). And even if we placed humans on another planet as a kind of insurance policy, it'll be a long time before that colony can survive without the mother planet.
They sound more helpful when they suggest that we wait to colonize space until we can "go big" with enough people, technology, and specializations to create a healthy, sustainable civilization. This is a worthwhile consideration. ...more
As with other Charles River Editors books, this one borrows some of its copy from its predecessor, "Project Mercury." While a recap is helpful, the veAs with other Charles River Editors books, this one borrows some of its copy from its predecessor, "Project Mercury." While a recap is helpful, the verbatim repetition is off-putting, and surely it's not inconceivable that someone would read multiple books on similar subjects by this publisher.
Still, this book shines as an erudite, insightful, yet succinct summation of the history and contributions of the Gemini project. Sandwiched between the Mercury and Apollo projects, Gemini gets less attention, as the authors note. Yet many advances were made with Gemini, such as spacecraft big enough for more than one person, onboard computers, the docking of spacecraft, etc. In short, Gemini built on Mercury and made the lunar missions of Apollo possible.
This was actually my first experience of a Ben Bova novel. There are all the stereotyped characters, seemingly out of a pulp novel, as others have saiThis was actually my first experience of a Ben Bova novel. There are all the stereotyped characters, seemingly out of a pulp novel, as others have said, where most people (especially women) are described according to their sexual attractiveness. But I suppose what most struck me about the book was the laborious nature of the plot. It was like reading a detailed case study in a project management textbook, only the project happened to be set in space. In some ways, it made it so I could relate, and no doubt "work in space" would soon become just... work. But it seemed to miss that hard science or noble horizon that I tend to look for in scifi. There wasn't much uplift or wonder... just personal politics, work duties, and love affairs. I guess I was sufficiently intrigued by the twists and turns of the plot (like a detective novel) to stay with it to the end and enjoy it to a relative degree....more
This book is a stunningly fascinating exploration of the possibilities of life on other planets, as well as the broader impact of species' co-evolutioThis book is a stunningly fascinating exploration of the possibilities of life on other planets, as well as the broader impact of species' co-evolution with the planet, namely the ways life dramatically affects the other systems of a planet. From discussing how micro-organisms oxygenated the Earth to predicting the weather patterns on Mars, the author is always rigorous and yet clear in his explanations. The conclusions of the book are as profound as they are unsettling: statistically, it is highly improbable that there *haven't* been many instances of other intelligent life on other planets, and the capacity of species to pass the point of no return in terms of climate change is pretty high, given the nature of self-reinforcing feedback loops.
In short, we are just one small part of the story of life in the universe, and our choices will decisively impact how much of that story the human species gets to be around for....more
This book was refreshing (especially at this point in (political) history!) for its optimism and ambition. Sometimes the best way to overcome challengThis book was refreshing (especially at this point in (political) history!) for its optimism and ambition. Sometimes the best way to overcome challenges is to truly aim beyond the initial obstacles. I appreciated his critique of the stagnation of NASA (we've actually moved backwards in our ability to put people into orbit or beyond! The energy and ambition of people like Elon Musk are inspiring and many of the issues involved with surviving on Mars are--at least cursorily--discussed. Most fascinating were the speculations on terraforming and genetic engineering (so that humans can breathe a different gas mix, for instance)....more
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