Entering Space: Creating a spacefaring civilization

The author of The Case for Mars provides an insider's look at the future of space exploration and travel, examining the true potential for human expeditions into outer space, the prospects for colonization of the outer planets of the solar system, and their implications for the future of humankind. 35,000 first printing.

Astronautical engineer Zubrin stirred up more than a few imaginations with his 1996 The Case for Mars, which explained how and why humans could visit the red planet cheaply and soon. Zubrin's confident followup divides its predictions and programs into three sections: the first covers near-term projects in Earth orbit, with a view to commercial possibilities. The second part takes on the Moon, Mars, asteroids and the outer solar system, and the third adopts an optimistic view of interstellar travel and extraterrestrial life. Zubrin's range can amaze: he begins with the Space Shuttle (misguided and inefficient, he argues) and ends with speculation about how humanity might "change the laws of the universe." In between, Zubrin (privy to some of the dealings involved) shows how American politics quashed recent chances of cheap space flight; how "shake-and-bake" processing can profitably mine helium from the Moon; what we can do to defend life on Earth against a real-life Armageddon asteroid; and how a magnetic sail might speed up and slow down a starship. Zubrin's engineering background and his crisp prose make him a confident explainer, as technical as he needs to be but rarely more so. Regular readers of science fiction and anyone else with high school chemistry and physics will understand his arguments about the engines, ships and industries he proposes to create. His gung-ho clarity may even raise suspicions, especially when he moves from physics to metaphysics: Will the species really stagnate unless we become a "Type II" civilization? But anyone who cares about space travel will care about some part of this book. While some will gravitate to the near-term proposals, others will happily escape their pull and reach, with Zubrin, for the stars. Agent, Laurie Fox of the Linda Chester Literary Agency. (Sept.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The author believes it is humanitys destiny to inhabit other planets in our solar system and beyond. When you finish Entering Space, you may be convinced as well. In The Case for Mars (1996), Zubrin outlined an ambitious plan that would allow astronauts to live on Mars for extended periods of time. Entering Space broadly covers this and a number of other topics, from the recent discovery of planets in other solar systems to commercial applications of space travel. The author argues that we are currently a Type I civilization, having mastered our own planet. A Type II civilization, he states, will have conquered the solar system, and a Type III will have moved out into the galaxy. Some of the possibilities presented are fascinating, including power satellites that could generate or relay electrical power to remote areas of the world and solar sails that would use the radiative force of the sun or an earth-bound laser (the ``photoelectric effect,'' for those readers sporting pocket protectors) to passively sail around the solar system. Throughout the book, Zubrin is undaunted by technological hurdles and funding obstacles to the projects he envisions. He argues that NASA and the aeronautics industry are preventing commercial development (by start-up companies, including his own) of inexpensive rocket technologies to launch satellites into orbit. His plans include a passenger rocket-plane that would travel briefly into space, happily giving the passengers the chance to experience zero gravity and perhaps enjoy the novelty of a brief float around the cabin.'' (More likely, they would have the opportunity to revisit their in-flight meal.) Other ambitious forecasts include a matter/antimatter engine, which would require thousands of times more energy than is currently produced on Earth in an entire year. An irrepressibly optimistic viewmore persuasive than one might expectof the future of space travel and colonization, both within the solar system and beyond. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Anyone frustrated by a space program that pours money into static projects, such as the space shuttle and the space station, may look to Zubrin for better ideas. A rocket scientist whose Case for Mars (1996) outlined an inexpensive Mars mission now under serious NASA consideration, Zubrin combines technical hardheadedness with proselytizing commitment in his efforts to revitalize space exploration. In this incandescently imagined book, he describes how first the inner solar system, then the outer planets, and eventually other neighboring solar systems might be colonized. No sci-fi silliness is required, he avers: the technical means either have been built (nuclear engines) or are physically possible (photon sails, anti-matter engines). What's lacking is societal drive, and he fears America is lapsing into the same inward-looking indolence as prevailed when the Chinese emperor recalled his explorers in the 1400s and destroyed their vessels--analogous to the U.S. government's shutdown of the Apollo program. He hopes to inspire contemporary youth, especially, by the visionary projects described here, so no forward-thinking library should overlook Zubrin's zeal. Gilbert Taylor