Did you listen to the YouTube above So, what is this all about? You thought Environmental Biology had something to do with what is going on Earth? Well, perhaps you need to research the topic. Read the articles linked to below. Perhaps you also wish to do your own search. Please let me know if you find an interesting web site. View the YouTube videos. Did you look at the video above with Stephen Hawking - "We must colonize space in order to survive"? (Uploaded by revtyson.) The video below is mandatory viewing for all students. "A New Era of Space Exploration" (uploaded by mars2057) is official NASA photography. You might have seen them on TV already.

Introduction. "Our only chance of longterm survival is not to remain lurking on planet Earth, but to spread out to space." Stephen Hawking. First let us think a little about how the universe -- where we live -- got started. Time began with chemical evolution about 15 billion years ago, as most scientists think, with a "Big Bang". The planets had formed about 4 - 5 billion years ago, and human evolution started about 4 - 5 million years ago, when our evolutionary line separated from the chimpanzee line. Since then we have managed to fill the planet with so many humans that our numbers are approaching 7 billion. Many experts think that 7 billion is too many people for this planet, and that is one of the most important reasons for exploring and colonizing space. Look at the world map to the right for an idea about how our population has increased! (For more about our evolution see the Evolution reading assignment for this class. A space program is very important for the future of humankind. “Escaping” earth by colonizing other planets may be the only way humankind will be able to deal effectively with the earth’s population problem. One day we may perhaps even find an earth-like planet in another solar system. We are now over 6.7 billion people on Earth. Actually, how many are we? Click on the link! Shouldn't we be on Mars by now? We have a lot of work to do before we can “escape” from Earth. After the Apollo program not much has happened. It is now more than 30 years since it ended.

If we do go out into space, when and how will it happen? SpaceRef.com: Bush Space Policy: Will America (Finally) Go Somewhere Once Again?

Asteroids! Some people think a space program is a waste of money. That is a very uninformed opinion. If you need a good reason -- here is a good one: Asteroids: Apophis, and asteroid about 400 meters wide (about 1200 feet) is a very good reason for researching, exploring, and colonizing space. "NASA has estimated that an impact from Apophis, which has an outside chance of hitting the Earth in 2036, would release more than 100,000 times the energy released in the nuclear blast over Hiroshima." Click on the link to Doom 2036 for interesting informative data about the asteroid and the possible danger. Spend some time reading the text and looking at the pictures on the page. The page also has the same dramatic YouTube videos found below on this page. The first video, "Apophis 99942: The Killer Asteroid of 2036" uploaded by fenos1 (Edgar) is much based on Hollywood pictures. The first video is mandatory viewing for all students. The second video, "Meteor Strikes Earth" uploaded by xB0uLeVarD (Evan), is from Japan and it helps if you know Japanese, however, the pictures are very interesting and informative -- worth the time to view. (The title for the second video is a misnomer, since it is not about meteors, but something a little bigger!) "Apophis 99942: The Killer Asteroid of 2036" "Meteor Strikes Earth" "Today there are more than 100 entries on NASA's list of asteroids that just might possibly hit Earth, even if it's less than a one-in-a-million chance. One of them, called Apophis, currently has a risk rating of 1 in 45,000 - serious enough to get people thinking about how to avoid a "cosmic Katrina." Chances are that Apophis will soon no longer be considered a threat, but what about those others? And what about the thousands of space rocks that are expected to be added to the list over the next few years?" "Somewhere out there is a killer asteroid with our name on it, and scientists, astronauts, diplomats and space law experts are just starting to draw up a plan for dealing with it - that is, once we figure out which asteroid it is." (2007. HOW TO FIGHT AN ASTEROID. Alan Boyle. Cosmiclog. http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/02/16/58617.aspx.) Here is a list of NASA sites, not as dramatic as the Doom 2036 page, but indicating that this is not just fantasy and Hollywood -- it might happen. Asteroid and Comet Impact Hazards (NASA site), July 23, 2008: Luna Philosophie -- "Will an Asteroid Hit the Earth?" (NASA site), and Friday the 13th, 2029 Asteroid 2004 MN4 will come scarily close to Earth on April 13, 2029, but it will not hit. (NASA site).

The first planet we plan to colonize is Mars. Space Colonization: We are learning more about Mars every day and are now initiating major explorations to further study this fascinating planet. But what is the future of the rest of our solar system? Are distant planets to remain simply objects of observation or are they destined to become future homes for our species? Is colonization of pristine planets the right thing to do? The YouTube video below, "Future Missions to Mars" (uploaded by DestinationTomorrow) has interesting information about future Mars trips.

Carl Sagan. There are still people on Earth who thinks a supernatural god created us humans "in his image", and made us in some sort of way the center of the universe --and that we for this reason should not venture out in space. Cart Sagan's description of "the pale blue dot" changes that perspective drastically. His almost poetic statement can be found on thousands of Internet locations. One interesting web site where it is located is on a site called Pangea Day. Another version of the pale blue dot is provided on this page (below). Uploaded on YouTube by Zecastronomo. If you click on the banner below it will take you to the official web site in honor of Carl Sagan, after his death in 1996, maintained by his wife. "The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena." Carl Sagan, in Pale Blue Dot. One of Sagan's interests was Mars. He would have loved to be part of the first Mars colonization -- as would I! On the way to colonize Mars, we must first along the way stop and master the Moon. View the YouTube pale blue dot video below. Mandatory viewing for all students. "The pale blue dot (Carl Sagan)" (5:13 min.)

If we go into space how are we going to live? On Mars or other planets, or perhaps on space stations? On Wikipedia one can read about a space station structure called a Stanford torus. (Click on the links for pictures.) "The Stanford torus is a proposed design for a space habitat capable of housing approximately 10,000 to 140,000 permanent residents. It consists of a torus or donut-shaped ring that is 1.8 km in diameter and rotates once per minute to provide between 0.9g and 1.0g of artificial gravity on the inside of the outer ring via centripetal acceleration. Sunlight is provided to the interior of the torus by a system of mirrors. The ring is connected to a hub via a number of "spokes", which serve as conduits for people and materials traveling to and from the hub. Since the hub is at the rotational axis of the station, it experiences the least artificial gravity and is the easiest location for spacecraft to dock. Zero-gravity industry is performed in a non-rotating module attached to the hub's axis. The interior space of the torus itself is used as living space, and is large enough that a "natural" environment can be simulated; the torus appears similar to a long, narrow, straight glacial valley whose ends curve upward and eventually meet overhead to form a complete circle. All students click on the purple link! (You might have to scroll to see the whole picture of the interior of the Stanford torus. Click the "back" button to come back here.) The population density is similar to a dense suburb, with part of the ring dedicated to agriculture and part to housing."

Here are a few additional links, or do your own research and discover our small insignificant place in the vast universe...

What will happen to human evolution when we venture out to space permanently with space colonization? Why is deep space exploration and interstellar colonization included in our discussion of future human evolution? What are the motivations for Interstellar Travel? How are we going to get there? This link is often disappearing and nor reliable. I rediscovered most of the content in the blog the link now connects to. But obviously human evolution is going to take a new, different and -- for a biologist interested in space -- exiting path.

Cheap Access to Space -- the key to space frontier ... the economic effect of extending the sphere of activity off the planet is of direct benefit for us here on Earth. So, therefore, I think it's critical that we do what I think Winston Churchill did. I love this quote, so for those of you may have heard it before, you'll have to forgive me ­ Churchill led England during World War II, and after his death one of his biographers asked one of his close friends: "What was it about Churchill that made him great?  What was his single greatest contribution to winning World War II?" The person thought for a second, and then he said, "He talked about it. He talked about the importance of winning the war. He talked about its importance in terms of Western civilization. He talked about it in terms that average people could relate to and could therefore get fired up about." And I say that all the time: I think people underestimate the importance of engaging in a public dialog about things that are important.

Explore 10 Billion Years of Galactic History Journey to the Edge of the Universe



http://www.youtube.com/user/Abell1835IR191 http://www.youtube.com/user/sooner14

NASA's home page: NASA

NASA's Moon link page: Moon links: "The National Space Science Data Center's Moon information, including all the manned and unmanned missions to date."

The Apollo 1 tragedy, 27 January 1967: The Apollo 1 tragedy

Univ. of California Planet Search Project: Planet Search Project

How Space Technology Improve Human HealthXXX

... and the last space video.

"We didn't inherit the earth from our parents. We are borrowing it from our children." -- Chief Seattle (1788-1866) Suquamish/Dauwamish chief

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Outside a Stanford torus. Click on the image to get back!

Inside a Stanford torus. Click on the image to get back!