RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SPACE VENTURES
A principal recommendation of this summer study is that a major systems study be made of space industrialization and space colonization. In addition, it is recommended that the following space ventures be undertaken as necessary preludes to space colonies.
- Continue development of the space transportation system (shuttle) and of Spacelab.
- Start development of the shuttle-derived Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle.
- Construct a large space laboratory for placement in low-Earth orbit in which experiments necessary to space colonization can be carried out.
- Establish a lunar base to explore and to test for the availability of lunar resources.
- Send an unmanned probe to the asteroids to determine their chemical composition.
CONCLUSIONS
Space colonization is desirable because of the hope it offers humanity. A sense of the limits of Earth has been heightened in recent years by growing awareness of the delicate ecological balance of the planet, its finite resources and its burgeoning human population. The sense of closure, of limits, is oppressive to many people. In America, growth has been the vehicle of rapid and often progressive change; it has been the source of opportunity for millions of people and has played an important role in fostering American democracy and political freedoms. To have opportunities restricted and to be forced to devise political institutions to allocate equitably, resources insufficient to meet demand, are unpleasant prospects. Space offers a way out, with new possibilities of growth and new resources. Space offers a new frontier, a new challenge, and a hope to humanity, much as the New World offered a frontier, a challenge, and a hope to Europe for more than 4 centuries.
Space also offers riches: great resources of matter and energy. Their full extent and how they might be used are not altogether clear today. It is likely that solar energy collected in space, converted to electricity, and beamed to Earth would be of great value. The manufacture of the satellite power stations to bring this energy to Earth and of other commercial activities that use the abundant solar energy, the high vacuum, and the weightlessness available in space, might bring substantial returns to investors. It seems possible that the historic industrialization of Earth might expand and go forward in space without the unpleasant impacts on the Earth's environment that increasingly trouble mankind. On the other hand, the potential of space must not detract from efforts to conserve terrestrial resources and improve the quality of life on Earth.
On the basis of this 10-week study of the colonization of space there seems to be no insurmountable problems to prevent humans from living in space. However, there are problems, both many and large, but they can be solved with technology available now or through future technical advances. The people of Earth have both the knowledge and resources to colonize space.
It is the principal conclusion of the study group that the United States, possibly in cooperation with other nations, should take specific steps toward that goal of space colonization.