Foreword
Becoming the People of the Stars
This volume has its origins in the March 2016 Tennessee Valley Interstellar Workshop (TVIW) Symposium held at the Chattanooga Choo Choo Hotel in Chattanooga, TN. The TVIW “working tracks” from each symposium provide an opportunity to have extended conversations about some of the “big issues” involved in making the transition to interstellar exploration and colonization. In 2016, one of the working tracks was entitled “Homo Stellaris” and the participants were charged with examining the transition of society, society’s mindset, and the human body to a life among the stars. A more complete report from that event is included later in this book (see “Homo Stellaris—Working Track Report from the Tennessee Valley Interstellar Workshop 2016”). One of the more intriguing questions to come out of the working track was, “Will the interstellar explorers be human as we define it?” In other words, will the inevitable changes to our society—not to mention the necessary changes to physiology and psychology—change those explorers to something other than Homo sapiens? If so, how then will those explorers preserve their essential humanity, rather than simply becoming what amounts to biological robotic probes?
HUMANS IN SPACE
The original Apollo program was extremely lucky to lose only three astronauts to spacecraft complications (Apollo 1) and that incident occurred on the ground. The only (publicized) potential loss-of-life incident in space was Apollo 13 and it was resolved successfully. On the other hand, two complete crews were lost to space shuttle accidents, and, each time, missions resumed only after extensive hand-wringing and finger-pointing.
If humans are to eventually go to the stars, they will first have to go out into space, beyond the ISS, beyond the Moon, even beyond Mars. To do that, people not only have to want to go, they have to do so in the face of risk and loss. There is hope, however, and that hope comes from science fiction (SF). The more society questions and thinks about not only the problems but also uses their imaginations to create solutions, the better prepared humans will be to adapt and overcome the risks of living, working, and thriving in space.
Early SF didn’t worry too much about adapting humans to space or other planets—mainly because so little was known about the differences humans would encounter once they left the surface of Earth. Space was still “the ether” and either just like the atmosphere (only thinner) or simply ignored. Hence, we had images of airborne ships “sailing” to the Moon, astronauts riding on the outside of rocket ships, and giant cannons that simply fired projectiles to the Moon where they would be greeted by outlandish beings who breathed air and lived on human-style food. Once it was generally accepted that space was a vacuum, and that both space and other planetary environments held many hazards to human health, SF turned to the idea that humans would naturally take their environment with them and re-create it on other worlds.
One of the most common book-cover images from SF is the space-suited astronaut on a hill looking over a valley of domes. This graphic image fits most perceptions of initial planetary habitats. Given what we now know about the air, soil, and radiation conditions on the Moon, Mars, and Venus, those assumptions are generally correct. In fact, most extraterrestrial communities will need to be underground (or inside rocky asteroids) for maximum protection from radiation, and they will thus seek to become as self-sustaining as possible. Breathable air will probably be generated artificially, then filtered and refreshed by plants. Likewise, water will be recycled and perhaps refreshed by mining asteroids. These are habitats in which humans can live without adaptation, much as a spacesuit captures a small volume of terrestrial life support and keeps a human from being exposed to the hazards of space.
But would it be possible to adapt humans to their environment, instead of the environment to humans?
It is important to note that simply providing a sheltering terrestrial environment will not prevent humans from adapting to the novel aspects of their new habitats. For example, research has shown that low-gravity environments result in a reduction of bone and muscle mass as well as changes in vision and heart function. While these are short-term adaptations which rely on adaptive mechanisms and not evolution of the human form, would it be possible to intentionally alter humans for space?
SF has already been there, in stories ranging from simple genetic improvement of human health, to wholesale alteration of the human body into completely alien forms. While this level of gene editing is still well outside of current capabilities, the field of tissue engineering is rapidly developing, as shown by the recent announcements of lab-created simple human organs such as the bladder, human ears grown on the backs of laboratory mice ears, sprayable skin cells for burn repair, and efforts to “3-D print” liver and kidney cells.
What other types of gene engineering might be desirable to adapt humans to space? For this question, we need look no further than our own oceans. Fish and marine mammals provide examples of adaptation such as pressure tolerance, maneuverability in a fluid/weightless environment, temperature extremes, oxygen extremes, sulfur-dependent organisms, alterations of circadian rhythm, and independence from sleep. “Natural antifreeze” copied from Arctic cod may make the difference in adapting or engineering humans to cryogenic stasis during long-duration spaceflights. While we may never reach the state of total freedom to choose alternate bodies, many examples—not to mention source materials—for engineering humans for life in space are already right here on Earth.
At the same time, we must ensure that human society has the will to tolerate the extreme risks of long-duration space exploration. Our society has become decidedly risk-averse and has difficulty making (and funding) long-range and long-term investments in social projects and technology. For some, this is compounded by an attitude that “there are too many problems at home to waste money in space!” It is a common theme in SF that space is a frontier, and in many ways only a small subset of society will embrace the necessity as well as the attraction of that frontier. Space may very well be colonized by the misfits, by those for whom it is no longer possible to fit into Earthbound society, or by individuals who decide to balance significant risk with even greater reward. For these reasons, the societies we build in space may be totally unlike our current experience.
SHAPING THE FUTURE
What better way to explore these concepts than through SF? It is a playground, a sandbox in which we can experiment with ideas and concepts that are beyond current capabilities. Perhaps through fiction we can encourage people to think about these issues, and begin to make the adaptations and accommodations to lessen the shock that such changes will produce. As we consider whether (or how) to adapt humans to new environments or adapt those environments to better suit humans, we also need to examine the science behind human experiences in space. In this anthology we have combined nonfiction essays and SF short stories to examine the motivations, the hazards, and the adaptations that will be encountered as humans move into a permanent presence in space and become Homo Stellaris—the People of the Stars.
Robert E. Hampson, PhD
Kernersville, NC, October 2018