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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