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Fwd: starship-design: Of interest.
In a message dated 4/6/02 2:57:07 PM, jakesmiley@netzero.net writes:
>Hello...
>
>
>
> What follows is an article taken from the February 23rd issue of The
>
>Economist. (I should clean my closet more often.)
>
>
>
>
>
> How many people are needed in a spaceship? Regular readers will know
>
>that The Economist's answer to this question is: "none; space exploration
>is
>
>better done by robots". But this is true only if scientific information
>is
>
>the goal. If the aim is colonisation, then both men and women are
>
>necessary.
>
> In a session on interstellar travel at the AAAS festival in Boston,
>John
>
>Moore of the University of Florida, Gainesville, asked what human population
>
>would be necessary for a colonising mission to another solar system.
>
> It would be a long trip. Several bright physicists have spent their
>
>leisure hours designing propulsion systems that could send a craft to a
>
>nearby star in less than a human lifetime. One popular solution is to
>
>unfurl a light sail that would capture the energy beamed at it from a
>
>powerful laser in orbit around the sun. The problem is that deceleration
>at
>
>the other end takes so much time and energy that such a system is suitable
>
>only for 'fly-by' missions. A manned craft would take centuries to arrive,
>
>and would therefore require some sort of self-contained colony in which
>
>people could survive, reproduce and lead something approaching normal lives
>
>[I don't know if we could put that many politicians and criminals on
>
>board...]. The technical, ecological and financial problems of building
>
>such a colony ship would be enormous, of course. But even if they were
>
>overcome, the society inside would itself have to be viable [that was a
>
>_long_ segue!].
>
> Dr. Moore, an anthropologist, set himself the task of designing such
>a
>
>society. He saw the crux of it as a compact between the generations to
>
>produce an acceptable crop of spouses for the future. By 'acceptable'
>he
>
>meant sufficient in number (a minimum choice of ten suitable members of
>the
>
>opposite sex) [ten! no wonder I haven't found a mate yet], and of suitable
>
>age (within three years of the individual doing the choosing) and
>
>consanguinity (not closer than second cousins). A computer model of his
>
>devising ["devising"? what, a model isn't accurate unless someone else
>had
>
>the chance to screw it up?] showed that an initial group of 150-180 people
>
>was just big enough to fulfill these criteria. Even when the model was
>run
>
>for 60-80 generations -- equivalent to a journey time of 2,000 years --
>the
>
>compact could hold. Coincidentally (or perhaps not) the figure of 150-180
>
>is the number of people which psychological testing has shown that an
>
>individual can know well enough to have a permanent relationship with.
> It
>
>is also the maximum size that anthropologists find for clans of
>
>hunter-gatherers, villages in pre-industrial societies, and even infantry
>
>companies in armies. Dr. Moore's woolgathering [I resent that! "vital
>
>contribution"...] might therefore have illuminated an important aspect
>of
>
>humanity's past, as well as pointing to its possible future.
--- Begin Message ---
Hello...
What follows is an article taken from the February 23rd issue of The
Economist. (I should clean my closet more often.)
How many people are needed in a spaceship? Regular readers will know
that The Economist's answer to this question is: "none; space exploration is
better done by robots". But this is true only if scientific information is
the goal. If the aim is colonisation, then both men and women are
necessary.
In a session on interstellar travel at the AAAS festival in Boston, John
Moore of the University of Florida, Gainesville, asked what human population
would be necessary for a colonising mission to another solar system.
It would be a long trip. Several bright physicists have spent their
leisure hours designing propulsion systems that could send a craft to a
nearby star in less than a human lifetime. One popular solution is to
unfurl a light sail that would capture the energy beamed at it from a
powerful laser in orbit around the sun. The problem is that deceleration at
the other end takes so much time and energy that such a system is suitable
only for 'fly-by' missions. A manned craft would take centuries to arrive,
and would therefore require some sort of self-contained colony in which
people could survive, reproduce and lead something approaching normal lives
[I don't know if we could put that many politicians and criminals on
board...]. The technical, ecological and financial problems of building
such a colony ship would be enormous, of course. But even if they were
overcome, the society inside would itself have to be viable [that was a
_long_ segue!].
Dr. Moore, an anthropologist, set himself the task of designing such a
society. He saw the crux of it as a compact between the generations to
produce an acceptable crop of spouses for the future. By 'acceptable' he
meant sufficient in number (a minimum choice of ten suitable members of the
opposite sex) [ten! no wonder I haven't found a mate yet], and of suitable
age (within three years of the individual doing the choosing) and
consanguinity (not closer than second cousins). A computer model of his
devising ["devising"? what, a model isn't accurate unless someone else had
the chance to screw it up?] showed that an initial group of 150-180 people
was just big enough to fulfill these criteria. Even when the model was run
for 60-80 generations -- equivalent to a journey time of 2,000 years -- the
compact could hold. Coincidentally (or perhaps not) the figure of 150-180
is the number of people which psychological testing has shown that an
individual can know well enough to have a permanent relationship with. It
is also the maximum size that anthropologists find for clans of
hunter-gatherers, villages in pre-industrial societies, and even infantry
companies in armies. Dr. Moore's woolgathering [I resent that! "vital
contribution"...] might therefore have illuminated an important aspect of
humanity's past, as well as pointing to its possible future.
--- End Message ---