TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapters 7, 8, and 9 are written from the perspective of the year 2057, the 100th anniversary of the launch of Sputnik 1 and the centenary of the Space Age. They offer three different views of how the future might turn out for space exploration and development under certain premises.
This third scenario assumes a middle way that balances the needs for development and protection.
Chryse Planitia Station
Mars
4 October 2057
[ INN newsfeed from Mars via interplanetary communications grid to Luna Intranet]
When the sun rose over Chryse Planitia this morning, it glinted on the surface of a geodesic dome that technicians had erected over the Viking 1 Historic Landing Site. The golden light, hitting the golden dome on what is otherwise known as the Gold Plain, provided a spectacular beginning to the day that marks the centenary of the Space Age. It seemed a fitting tribute to what some are calling the Golden Age of space exploration.
What better time to review the events that have brought space exploration and development to where they are today? A 100-year review of anything is no easy task, but it can help to show us where we came from and can even provide some pointers for the future.
Asked to identify the key factor that has encouraged space activity in the past 50 years, the Director of the Chryse Planitia research station, Dr. Raymond Crater, said simply: "sustainability." "On Earth, we had sustainable programs for forestry,...
