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2001 A SPACE ODYSSEY PT3; MARS AND BEYOND

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This is part 3 of 2001 A SPACE ODYSSEY  old still 33 years to go.  Quantum POP analyzes Part 3 and 4  of the movie Jupiter and beyond and infinity. Topics include; Manned space travel beyond earth and moon, suspended animation, and artificial intelligence self-realization. BUT DON”T WORRY! It’ll be FUN.

Now in the movie we no sooner hear that ear-piercing signal being transmitted from our moon monolith to Jupiter, than we find ourselves on a mission to Jupiter to track it down and find out what it all means. No one tells you a whole lot in the movie 2001, so we don’t even know if mankind has been to Mars at all yet before we find ourselves off to Jupiter. But be that as it may, in terms of our story I mean think about it. I you found a monolith made by an intelligent self-aware species planted on your moon pointing a signal to one of Jupiter’s moons you would want to go there if you could. That kind of thing makes microbes on Mars look like Tinker Toys.

Now as far as we can see as of this earth date, we probably will not be sending anyone off to explore Jupiter’s moons any time soon. At the rate we are going it may not even be in another 33 years. The chances are much more likely we get to Mars in 33 years and if the Mars mission proponents have their way a lot sooner than that. When we do go to Jupiter though it will probably not be to land there but rather to visit some of Jupiter’s moons. And this planet has a lot of them. It even has provisional moons. It has moons that orbit its moons. The NASA page located here; http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Jupiter&Display=Sats on Jupiter’s moons lists 50 moons and 14 Provisional Moons.

 Here are some Jupiter moon highlights. Four larger primary moons called the Galilean satellites. One of them Europa, may have life. Why? Because it has tons of water. More than earth even and there are some potentially volcanically warmed parts of water where again, potentially, life as we know it may exist. Another highlight we reprint from the NASA page as follows.

Three of the moons influence each other in an interesting way. Io is in a tug-of-war with Ganymede and Europa, and Europa’s orbital period (time to go around Jupiter once) is twice Io’s period, and Ganymede’s period is twice that of Europa. In other words, every time Ganymede goes around Jupiter once, Europa makes two orbits and Io makes four orbits. The moons all keep the same face towards Jupiter as they orbit, meaning that each moon turns once on its axis for every orbit around Jupiter.

Why is that? It almost sounds mechanical. Might be worth a look sometime.

The spaceship design that Stanley Kubrick thinks that we should have already built by now to go to Jupiter, sadly will not even be ready for production by the time we go to Mars.if we stick to the NASA plan as it is envisioned today.

The jupiter ship in the story is very long. It is constructed of modules connected together. Each module exists to fulfill the needs of each part of the mission. Food modules, science experiment and various instrument modules. In the story we are only concerned with the onboard earth to ship communications system module, a critical module indeed as we soon learn.

The spherical front of the space craft houses the crews quarters and the only place on board where there is any gravity.

The crew compartment spins of course like the wheel earlier in the movie creating that gravity.

The craft;s mission objectives, coordinates, ,functionality and data are all handled by the HAL-9000 computer who one learns is affectionately called Hal. Just when you think you can love him as only a human can love a computer, he glitches.The glitch occurs as a result of the mission objectives coming into conflict with a new mission directive that creates computational corrections in the overall computer program. You see, the mission was for the area of Jupiter to be explored with the humans in control and Hal there to assure all possible means of mission success. All possible means. The new directive however left out the humans on board when it came to knowledge of the monolith. Suddenly, contacting the species that created the monolith, became mission priority one. Hal is the only one on board who knows about the monolith. Even though the humans undoubtably want to find aliens since they are out of the loop they may be a liability to the mission without all the facts only Hal could process. So to Hal, mission success means Hal must not be disconnected.

Hal’s all-seeing eye reads the astronauts lips as they propose shutting him down if he is proven to be wrong about the communications module malfunctions Hal is predicting. The astronauts now in Hal’s twisted mechanical mind, become a possible impediment to the success of the mission. This then allows Kubrick and Clarke to introduce the concept of machine singularity. the singularity that Hal then embodies triggers the event horizon scenario long predicted in theoretical science circles. What does this mean? Here is a great explanation from the Singularity Institute. Event horizon: All social and technological progress thus far has come from human brains. When technology creates entirely new kinds of intelligence, this will cause the future to be stranger than we can imagine. So there is an’event horizon’ in the future beyond which our ability to predict the future rapidly breaks down. Well if you are a nube at this point and haven’t yet seen the movie all I can tell you is mayhem ensues. In the course of that mayhem there unfolds a great story ending of science fantasy that invites you to become a philosopher.

Some other science theory and fact that we love. The crew is in hibernation, frozen in suspended animation as it were. Suspended animation is theoretically possible however Arthur C Clarke’s use of it in the story and his projection that it might be applied to humans by the year 2001 is highly optimistic and as of this earth date, still only used successfully for short periods of time on small mammals and with mixed results.

One more quick science element Kubrick and Clarke use masterfully in this movie as a story telling device is the concept of space as a silent, vast void. Anyone growing up in a post Star Wars world probably thinks that if anything explodes in space all the aliens hear it. But they don’t. Not if they have ears like ours. When the explosive bolts go off in the 2001 movie you do not hear a thing until the airlock fills up with air. We begin to hear sound from the energy produced, as the chamber slowly fills with an atmosphere. Only then do the waves have a substance they can resonate off of, to produce vibrations that the ear can actually hear. GREAT STUFF and really dramatic.

The end of the movie is an exercise anyone can participate in who wants to theorize on the subject of quantum physics. In this new mathematical world, time and space exist only as a framework for possibility. They are a tool of the creative process but not a hard fast rule. So what does that mean if you are an artist with the mastery of Kubrick? It means break out the surrealism. Our human hero is invited in and becomes the guest of the aliens he was so earnestly and steadfastly motivated to pursue. The result is a more radicalized way of assimilating his experiential input. A place where each moment for him becomes is an end unto itself, as he perceives his old age, death and rebirth as a process in a universe of infinite processes..

Enjoy

2001 PT 2; THE FUTURE OF THE WHEEL (CONTINUED)

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Quantum POP explores the possible steps from the straight modular  ISS(International Space Station) to curved wheel of 2001 A Space Odyssey.

Why the wheel in space? This is not only a question it is also the answer as to we did not build a wheel in space by the Arthur C Clarke projected year of 2001. Why bother?  OK the view from there is spectacular in every sense of the word but the view from the highest peak of the Himalayas is pretty awe-inspiring too, but no one has come up with a good reason to spend a trillion dollars of taxpayer money to make it possible for people to live there. Also since we already know that we can survive there, there is no reason to keep proving it.

Research is one reason. The research done in space has a direct impact on wealth creation here on planet earth. By some estimates as much as $10 return on every dollar in the form of services and products generated from money spent on space exploration. So if you are one of those that believes that we need to  spend our hard-earned taxpayer money here on earth and not throw it into the wormhole of space, it is helpful to know that you end up with more earth money if you spend it wisely on space exploration.

However would there be $10 trillion dollars of return on every trillion dollars it will take to build the first wheel in space from research alone? This is a debatable question  It could be argued that with the money we spend now on space there is plenty of research going on to keep new products coming along quite nicely. But we are now reaching a point where we are finding out that there are things we need on earth can be made better in space. Things that will make a vast improvement on our day-to-day lives. The ability to make these products will increasingly require us to spend more and more time in space and that may be where the wheel comes in.

Medicines could be produced in space by being sent into orbit on drug making platforms such as the one pictured here. The payload could be sent back to earth and retrieved.

 

Top secret medicine is now being tested on animals that was made in space. Mc Donnell Douglas has created this medicine that can only be made in space and if the tests prove acceptable it will begin to produce it and make it commercially available. Special composites are also being developed from experiments done during Space Transport Shuttle missions. Further development is now being continued on the ISS. The results so far are conclusive. There are many high quality materials that can be made in space and no other place. At today’s prices it looks like a few trillion right there in new products is possible in a decade or so easy. Perhaps we do not need a wheel after all if we can make things in space without one. But blasting things into space is very expensive.

The things you can make in space that make life in the universe as well as on earth better are many and varied. Besides medicines there are a couple of industries that immediately come to mind that once they are in operation, will lower the cost of everything we produce anywhere. The first is energy.

Space is an energy rich environment and you can produce solar electricity at much less than the cost needed fossil fuel or even solar panel production here on earth. Sunlight is 24/7 in space and you can make your solar collectors miles wide and miles across. Now you want to talk about green. That’s green. A British Company, Magna Parva has already been given a contract to begin the process of giant structures in space.

The second thing that will begin to lower costs on everything is satellite manufacture. Once all you have to do is push your new satellite out the door to the orbit of your choice, you save hundreds of thousands of dollars on rocket ships and fuel and wasted resources. For a list and explanation of most of the things we now are able to produce in space for our lifestyle improvements,  check out this amazing article at http://www.spaceislandgroup.com/manufacturing.html

Asteroids may hold the key to our ability to make our wheels and other platforms necessary for successful sustained manufacturing and research in space. They have the water and material resources we need to advance and sustain our new lifestyle that everyone now aspires to in this age we are creating. There are 3 things about asteroids that make them important to us right now. They are close to us, the technology to begin operations exists today and one cataclysmic asteroid will inevitably hit the earth unless we start developing the applications that will allow us to use our near earth objects(, NEO’s) for good. (please see our Quantum POP article on NEO’s)

An artists conception of asteroid mining

Because the costs for everything on earth and beyond fall when we are able to produce things in space from material already in space, mining will become a major first industry to develop. This is paramount if we are to be successful in our quest to improve the life of mankind everywhere. The first wheel may have to be made of asteroid mined material. It is also likely that we may want to construct a small wheel for living and manufacturing as well and from these platforms begin our  first real enterprises in space. If we do not have the investment necessary to build independent  platforms for living and manufacture then we will have to add modules to the ISS for that purpose until we can raise the capital necessary to create the wheels which are our future in space.

There is one more really big industry to make the wheel hotel a certainty in the coming years. Tourism. This is an industry that already has a waiting list of paying customers ready to pay in advance to train and condition themselves for an experience that few other have had. More on that soon.

In the next article on 2001 a Space Odyssey Quantum POP will take our wheels To Jupiter and Beyond.

Special thanks to thse web sites for pictures and research info on this article.

http://ssi.org/reading/papers/space-studies-institute-roadmap/

http://www.sylviaengdahl.com/space/lifeboat.htm

http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2011-06/07/large-space-structures

http://www.hobbyspace.com/AAdmin/archive/Articles/Guests/atwgBriefingLeeValentine.html

http://www.nytimes.com/1985/06/10/us/drug-made-on-space-shuttle-now-being-tested-in-animals.html

http://www.hudsonfla.com/spaceviewinner.htm

http://www.spaceislandgroup.com/manufacturing.html

THE FUTURE OF THE WHEEL; 2001 PT2

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The wheel is the symbol and invention of man’s first steps into the modern world. It will also mark his first steps into the space age. When the wheel is built in space we will open a new chapter in the saga of humankinds evolution from the platform of earth.

This is a continuation of the article 2001 A Space Odyssey Still 33 Years Away. You will find this article in the space category of Quantum POP. If you haven’t read the article we will wait for you here while you go and read it. We will see you back here when you are done.

For those of you that have read the first instalment of this article you may enjoy this picture.

This is a variation on the wheel design that we were talking about when we left off in the last article. As you can see it is an improvement on the theoretical design featured in the movie 2001.

The ideas for space habitation have evolved since the late 60′s. So too have the ideas about what we will be doing there to grow wealth and opportunity. In the movie it was all about the moon. Studying it, mining it, colonizing it. That’s where the water the minerals and raw materials are for living as only you can in space and being able to make the most of it as it were.

What is the most of it? The most of it means having the kind of life that you want to have on earth but can’t easily accomplish because you always have to do everything so as not to pollute. I mean really. You got to be so darn careful with everything here. Now this is a very good thing when you are learning the value of things as a species. We are learning every day, how to make use of everything even to the point of recycling waste. This understanding will come in very handy in space for making closed eco-systems inside of our space wheels.

Now in space if you are an evolving species busily creating a high-tech lifestyle for yourself and you have a bit of toxic industrial sludge left over that you haven’t figured out what to do with yet, no worries. Just put it into a container marked industrial sludge XYZ-123 and push it into the sun. Old rocket parts and other near earth orbital city trash that piles up? Just designate a 1000 square mile or so  region for it to go to and let it float there for a century. If it gets in the way gather it up and blow it up. The neighbors won’t mind. Things blow up in space all the time and it is just another star day. You might even go so far as to say that it just isn’t a day in space if something isn’t blowing up somewhere. In fact you might even say that there is no such thing as pollution in space. There is a place for everything there and everything in its place. Even the most noxious plume or gelatinous mass is welcome on some planet, star cluster or nebula. So Quantum POP figures we will feel right at home there. Even the biggest mess we could possibly make wouldn’t amount to more than a speck of dust in space.

The wheel in 2001 was used primarily as a combination tourist resort and hotel with accommodations for engineers, technicians and scientific expeditionary teams, engaged in space/moon developement and research. They seemed to use it a lot for going to the moon because the moon has a lot of what you need to live in space namely water and materials Today we know that we will also be visiting asteroids and comets or NEO’s (near earth objects) as they are called for our building and manufacturing materials and of course, water. The stuff of space are the things we are increasingly desiring to have for our tech toys but are running out of here on earth.

In the science of the 2001 movie, water in space was made possible by way of the moon. Water and fresh air are far more plentiful than you might have been led to believe. In our solar system ,except on earth of course, it is all in the form of ice. There are oceans full of it. Bringing it to civilization will be no more difficult for us at our present level of technological mastery then it was for the Romans to engineer the aqueduct. We know of a few sheets of ice on the dark side of the moon that could easily get us going for a century or so. We will also use water to insulate us from radiation. It will line the walls of our wheel-shaped environment. When it comes to water in space, it is reasonable to assume that as we learn to live more easily in the universe we will probably learn how to create water from the elements of the universe by mimicking the process used in the universe.

Sunlight and fresh air in space is an easy one.  The fresh air comes from the ice too. After all, H2O is 2 parts oxygen. Also since there is so much sunlight in space there are many plant species which will be grown and cultivated in many new ways that will produce air to breathe in our wheel-shaped cities..

Based on known earthly reserves and growing rates of consumption in developing countries, it has been speculated that metal reserves essential for modern industry, including antimony, zinc, tin, silver, indium, gold and copper, could be depleted from Earth within the next 50-60 years. This is why it is important to go with what we have now to get the raw materials necessary to keep this party going. The mining industry’s next move has to be into space or the private sector will dry up and the remaining resources will be hoarded by those with the force of arms to do so. Why asteroids? Because the technology is there. We have the explosives, rockets etc, to do the deed today. We only need to raise the capital to develop the applications technology. The moon will require more time and development but asteroids are just around the corner. A lot of the work can be done by robots too in the asteroid mining game.

A little bit about what we will be building soon in space for the betterment of all in our next instalment

2001 A Space Odyssey Still 33 Years Away

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Some of the science theory and application behind 2001

April marks the 44 anniversary of the motion picture production 2001, A Space Odyssey. Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C Clarke’s movie is proving the past can be the future.The fact that we are still 33 years from the 2001 future just like they were in 1968 when the movie was released, makes me want to crack some bones

2001 may be the only science fiction movie that put so much effort into giving the audience the feeling of what space is and what it might be like to experience it. The movie can be said to be an attempt to use science and logic to go beyond science and logic while still being true to science and logic. The science of motion picture production embodied was stae of the art and mostly holds up well from the camera to the lighting. and of course Kubrick was one of the formost film producers of his time.

Based on a science fiction book “The Sentinal” once it hit the theaters, it was re-writtien and published as 2001 a Space Odyessy. Herein the science of the storyline was delved into in more detail.

When talking about the science in the storyline of 2001 we should start at the beginning with the Monolith. The Monolith is the end evolutionary product of a race of intelligent beings. It was the last physical body they inhabited as a species before they became pure energy.

Imagine if we started making artificial limbs, organs, veins, brains and everything so well that no one wanted to have an organic body anymore.They stopped using them at all because they wore out and couldn’t travel as fast or as far. These better bodies could travel across the universe in a nano second and other stuff like that and better. I mean if you could have one right now wouldn’t you want one?

Of course you would. And so did they. They got so good at making these wonderful bodies for themselves that they found a way to get born into them. Eventually they began to understand reality so well they decided to bypass the whole body thing and exist as consciousness. Before that though, they went visiting all the places they could only see in telescopes before their machine bodies got so good. When they went visiting, they decided it would be polite to start dropping in on evolving species that were heading evolutionarily their way. Thus the visit to our ape ancestors. When they found one of these species, they would leave one of these machine bodies capable of housing ego identified consciousness, somewhere that a species with the potential to understand the universe would be sure to find it.

For our species that meant leaving it on the moon.

Near earth orbit and  moon science in 2001, involves what it will take to get there and what we will do when we get there. It envisions the developing commercialization of space including manufacturing, tourism, government led scientific expeditions, exploration and regulations extending further and further out into the solar system.

In the movie, the first character capable of forming sentences out of words, Dr. Heywood Floyd, needs to go to the moon. He does this in full 60′s and early 70′s science style. In the course of early space exploration NASA realized that the fuel costs, wear and tear on machinery and amount of resources needed to get to the moon from earth were excessive wasteful and unnecessary when applied to everyday use. Much better to do it in 2 stages first go to a comfortable L4 or 5 earth orbit with a spectacular view. Then spend the night in a nice resort hotel. You might like to hang out at the bar or restaurant or perhaps enjoy some weightless fun. Then if you like, proceed on.

First what is L-4 and L-5 orbits. For this I refer you to Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L5_Society It says

The name comes from the L4 and L5 Lagrangian points in the Earth-Moon system proposed as locations for the huge rotating space habitats that Dr Gerard K. O’Neill envisioned. L4 and L5 are points of stable gravitational equilibrium located along the path of the moon’s orbit, 60 degrees ahead or behind it.

An object placed in orbit around L5 (or L4) will remain there indefinitely without having to expend fuel to keep its position, whereas an object placed at L1, L2 or L3 (all points of unstable equilibrium) may have to expend fuel if it drifts off the point.

To get to this place in space author Arthur C Clarke envisioned a 3rd or 4th generation of space shuttle developed and by operated by Pan Am or maybe now Virgin. In the movie the first thing you notice when you are  flying on Stanley Kubrick concept of Pan Am’s space plane is that our computers look a lot better. This is because the movie suffers from the need to use available analog 60′s movie technology to represent digital machinery. They did not evin have a digital camera for the computer screen shots. Conceptually however the computer stuff redeems itself admirably. You also notice that our food is better. In the movie they have to suck paste through straws inserted into special warmed sealed trays. Not too yummy looking. Because of the NASA Shuttle Program you can be sure that our in-flight space meals of the future will be a lot more appealing. No question though, the anti gravity toilet will still take some getting used to no matter what century we start doing this in.

In 2001, the L-5 place in space is a wheel that spins. Why does it spin? It does this to create artificial gravity. Yes. The diameter of the wheel is coupled to a speed of so many revolutions per hour and together you get a gravity you can walk in, eat in and so on. You can also do some new stuff in lighter than earth gravity states all the way to total weightlessness as you move to the center of the wheel. The creative minds that dreamed all this stuff up saw the resort Idea as inexorably connected to the space program. They even featured Hilton Hotels in the signage.

In the next 2001 Quantum POP article we will get into all the cool stuff you can do in an outer space resort and the kinds of stuff you can do with user fees (talk about taxing the rich) to fund space research. Also industrial uses of space that will lower the prices on stuff we buy right now.