A city on Mars : can we settle space, should we settle space, and have we really thought this through? / Kelly and Zach Weinersmith.
"Earth is not well. The promise of starting life anew somewhere far, far away--no climate change, no war, no Twitter--beckons, and settling the stars finally seems within our grasp. Or is it? Critically acclaimed, bestselling authors Kelly and Zach Weinersmith set out to write the essential gui...
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Format: | Book |
Language: | English |
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New York :
Penguin Press,
2023.
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Table of Contents:
- Introduction : a homesteader's guide to the red planet?
- A preamble on space myths
- Part I: Caring for the spacefaring. Suffocation, bone loss, and flying pigs : the science of space physiology ; Space sex and consequences thereof ; Spacefarer psychology : in which the only thing we're sure of is that astronauts are liars ; Nota bene : rocketry goes to the movies, or, space capitalism in days of yore, part 1
- Part II: Spome, spome on the range : where will humans live off-world?. The moon : great location, bit of a fixer-upper ; Mars : landscapes of poison and toxic skies, but what an opportunity! ; Giant rotating space wheels : not literally the worst option ; Worse options ; Nota bene : space is the place for product placement, or, space capitalism in days of yore, part 2
- Part III: Pocket Edens : how to create a human terrarium that isn't all that terrible. Outputs and inputs : poop, food, and "closing the loop" ; There's no place like spome : how to build outer-space habitats ; Nota bene : the mystery of the tampon bandolier
- Part IV: Space law for space settlements : weird, vague, and hard to change. A cynical history of space ; The outer space treaty : great for regulating space sixty years ago ; Murder in space : who killed the moon agreement? ; Nota bene : space cannibalism from a legal and culinary perspective
- Part V: The paths forward : bound for Moonsylvania?. Commonsing the cosmos ; Dividing the sky ; The birth of space-states : like the birth of space babies, but messier ; Nota bene : violence in Antarctica, or, happy endings to stabby starts
- Part VI: To plan B or not to plan B : space society, expansion, and existential risk. There's no labor pool on Mars : outer space as a company town ; How big is big? : plan B settlements without genetic or economic calamities ; Space politics by other means : on the possibility of space war ; A brief coda on a rarely considered alternative : wait-and-go-nowhere ; Nota bene : amusing astronaut names and the Soviet tendency to fuss over weird details
- Conclusion : of hot tubs and human destiny.