Robots in Space: Technology, Evolution, and Interplanetary Travel (New Series in NASA History) [Hardcover]

Roger D. Launius (Author), Howard E. McCurdy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 7, 2008 | ISBN-10: 0801887089 | ISBN-13: 978-0801887086 | Edition: 1

Given the near incomprehensible enormity of the universe, it appears almost inevitable that humankind will one day find a planet that appears to be much like the Earth. This discovery will no doubt reignite the lure of interplanetary travel. Will we be up to the task? And, given our limited resources, biological constraints, and the general hostility of space, what shape should we expect such expeditions to take?

In Robots in Space, Roger Launius and Howard McCurdy tackle these seemingly fanciful questions with rigorous scholarship and disciplined imagination, jumping comfortably among the worlds of rocketry, engineering, public policy, and science fantasy to expound upon the possibilities and improbabilities involved in trekking across the Milky Way and beyond. They survey the literature—fictional as well as academic studies; outline the progress of space programs in the United States and other nations; and assess the current state of affairs to offer a conclusion startling only to those who haven’t spent time with Asimov, Heinlein, and Clarke: to traverse the cosmos, humans must embrace and entwine themselves with advanced robotic technologies.

Their discussion is as entertaining as it is edifying and their assertions are as sound as they are fantastical. Rather than asking us to suspend disbelief, Robots in Space demands that we accept facts as they evolve.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Entertaining reading.

(Commercial Dispatch 2008)

Excellent, eye-opening, horizon-broadening reading! Highly recommended.

(Choice 2008)

Noted space historians... breathe new life into the subject by examining its history as well as its possible future. They call for a new vision of human spaceflight—a 'transhuman' program that takes into account current trends in robotics, artificial intelligence, genetic engineering and other fields that are rapidly changing the nature of both humans and machines.

(Air and Space Magazine 2008)

This short volume manages to capture the history of U.S. space flight, to explain the underpinnings of U.S. space policy and to plot out the possibilities for our future in space in a style that most anyone can enjoy.

(Andrew McMichael Park City Daily News 2008)

A timely and thought-provoking read, no matter what side of the humans vs. robots debate one is on. Highly recommended for anyone with an interest in where our species is ultimately headed in space.

(Liftoff 2009)

Should interest any intelligent reader with an interest in the history and future of space exploration, whatever technology is applied. Its mix of historical background and social context, entirely due to the authors' long experience, takes the reader well beyond the usual issues of technical challenge and budget limitations, while numerous selected quotations accentuate the human element.

(Mark Williamson Space Times 2009)

About the Author

Roger D. Launius is a member of the Division of Space History at the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum and the former Chief Historian of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). He has authored and coauthored several books on space exploration, most recently Space: A Journey to Our Future. Howard E. McCurdy is a professor in the School of Public Affairs at American University and the author of Faster, Better, Cheaper: Low-Cost Innovation in the U.S. Space Program and Inside NASA: High Technology and Organizational Change in the U.S. Space Program, both published by Johns Hopkins.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: The Johns Hopkins University Press; 1 edition (January 7, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0801887089
• ISBN-13: 978-0801887086
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,316,514 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Roger D. Launius is a senior curator in the Division of Space History at the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. Between 1990 and 2002 he served as chief historian of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. A graduate of Graceland College in Lamoni, Iowa, he received his Ph.D. from Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, in 1982 and worked as a civilian historian with the United States Air Force until 1990.

He has written or edited more than twenty books on aerospace history, among others including "Smithsonian Atlas of Space Exploration" (HarperCollins, 2009); "Robots in Space: Technology, Evolution, and Interplanetary Travel" (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008); "Space Stations: Base Camps to the Stars" (Smithsonian Books, 2003; 2nd ed. 2009), which received the AIAA's history manuscript prize; "Flight: A Celebration of 100 Years in Art and Literature" (Welcome Books, 2003); "Reconsidering a Century of Flight" (University of North Carolina Press, 2003); "To Reach the High Frontier: A History of U.S. Launch Vehicles" (University Press of Kentucky, 2002); "Imagining Space: Achievements, Possibilities, Projections, 1950-2050" (Chronicle Books, 2001); "Innovation and the Development of Flight" (Texas A&M University Press, 1999); "NASA & the Exploration of Space" (Stewart, Tabori, & Chang, 1998); "Frontiers of Space Exploration" (Greenwood Press, 1998, rev. ed. 2004); "Spaceflight and the Myth of Presidential Leadership" (University of Illinois Press, 1997); and "NASA: A History of the U.S. Civil Space Program" (Krieger Publishing Co., 1994, rev. ed. 2001).

He is also involved in other historical studies. His book, "Joseph Smith III: Pragmatic Prophet" (University of Illinois Press, 1988), won the prestigious Evans Award for biography. He has also published "Differing Visions: Dissenters in Mormon History" (University of Illinois Press, 1994), "Cultures in Conflict: A Documentary History of the Mormon War in Illinois" (Utah State University Press, 1995), "Kingdom on the Mississippi Revisited: Nauvoo in Mormon History" (University of Illinois Press, 1996), and several others. "Alexander William Doniphan: Portrait of a Missouri Moderate" (University of Missouri Press, 1997), discusses the role of the vital center in American politics during the Mexican-American War and sectional conflict.

More recently he has been studying the relationship of baseball to American culture and has published, "Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman" (Walker and Co., 2010), and "Seasons in the Sun: The Story of Big League Baseball in Missouri" (University of Missouri Press, 2002).

He served as a consultant to the Columbia Accident Investigation Board in 2003 and presented the prestigious Harmon Memorial Lecture in Military History at the United States Air Force Academy in 2006. In addition, he is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the International Academy of Astronautics, and the American Astronautical Society, and Associate Fellow of the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics. He is frequently consulted by the electronic and print media for his views on space issues, and has been a guest commentator on National Public Radio and all the major television networks.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mindstretching, April 29, 2008

By 

R. Hardy "Rob Hardy" (Columbus, Mississippi USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Robots in Space: Technology, Evolution, and Interplanetary Travel (New Series in NASA History) (Hardcover)

For as long as there have been humans, there has been a push outward to explore and inhabit new lands. It seems to be something we are programmed to do. When new worlds (or a New World) was discovered, settlers moved in to make them their own. The Earth is pretty well settled, and we have nowhere else to move, unless we start going to other planets entirely. We have just barely started exploring these distant unearthly worlds, but our ventures have already caused a big debate in the philosophy of exploration: should it be by humans or by robots? _In Robots in Space: Technology, Evolution, and Interplanetary Travel_ (The Johns Hopkins University Press), a couple of experts on the history of space exploration and space policies, Roger D. Launius and Howard E. McCurdy, summarize the debate and give surprising answers and speculation into what the future may hold. Their predictions and their solutions require imagination to understand, at the level of science fiction, and indeed their book frequently draws upon science fiction novels and movies for depictions of imaginary answers to future problems. It makes for entertaining reading, especially for someone like me who had not previously realized how much serious thought has gone into the debate about robots, space exploration, and the future of humans in space.

At the dawn of the space age, besides working on America's rocket program, Wernher von Braun wrote popular articles that emphasized humans in space as a continuation of America's tradition of exploration and settlement. The authors point out that such utopian visions have often been part of terrestrial exploration, and that they continue to fire the imaginations of those who want to see humans in space. Von Braun's vision stalled. Sending humans into space for military purposes turned out to be unnecessary. Even the Space Shuttle program was not consistent with the aims of the utopians. It might have been part of von Braun's vision of being transport to a space station, but it was essentially a "space truck" with little potential for getting us to other worlds. Of course von Braun relied on machines to get humans into space, but his plan greatly underestimated how good our robots were going to get, and how quickly they would fill commercial, military, and exploratory needs. It is still expensive to send robots into space, but they do not require money to be spent on life support, and in particular, they do not have to return to Earth to get their jobs done, while humans need to get back home. Maybe, however, there will be humans that don't need to make the return trip, and maybe the robot / human dilemma is a false one, one that could be resolved by combining the two. Take the durability and limited needs of robots and combine them with the adaptability and intellect of humans, and you start thinking about what is called transhumanism or posthumanism. This includes cyborgs (from "cybernetic organism") and there may be further combinations of machines and humans, and perhaps also genetic tinkering. Maybe humans making such journeys will be like no humans who ever came before them.

The authors know that they are merely conducting "intellectual exercises designed to broaden one's thinking about the options involved." Humans won't be able to live on Earth forever; even if we were taking perfect care of our environment, we can't count on an eternal Sun. The authors admit, "It disappoints us to think that humanity might forever be confined to a single world," and are not attracted to the idea that we would simply send out robots to do our exploration for us. They quote a former NASA official: "We don't give ticker tape parades for robots." As much speculation as there is in the book, there is also a serious assessment for what is needed in the future. The prospects for human colonization within the solar system look small, even for the most likely of future homes, Mars. Assessing planets outside the solar system has just begun, and the authors see this as the top priority for space exploration. Other priorities include finding a more effective propulsion system, because our current rockets won't get humans, robots, or cyborgs very far very fast; reducing the cost of space travel; and civil partnerships with privately owned space industries. Even these priorities, which the authors view as realistic, some might see as mere science fiction. Only a few decades ago, however, travel to the Moon was mere science fiction. _Robots in Space_ is about a lot more than just robots, and although it is a sober and thoughtful examination of serious ideas, it is a mind-stretching trip.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Somewhat misleading title, February 12, 2008

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Mark5576 "mark5576" (Framingham, MA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Robots in Space: Technology, Evolution, and Interplanetary Travel (New Series in NASA History) (Hardcover)

The book's title and its jacket -- image of "Spirit" Mars Rover, -- imply that it is a history and/or forecast of robotic space exploration. Actually it is more than anything else a history of "robots vs. humans debate" -- the longstanding argument among space-related comminuty in United States over the best way to explore space.

In first two thirds of the book Launius and McCurdy trace last 50 years of spaceflight through the lens of this debate, and of cultural assumptions of both sides. They do not exactly take sides, but claim that as 21st Century rolled around both technological and social trends are favoring the "robotic exploration" camp -- even without actively advocating it. The last third is given to the notions of transhumanism -- biological and mechanical augmentation of human body and mind, and how it applies to space travel. Ultimately the authors reveal (actually, they hint on it early on) their own answer to "robots or humans?" question: and the answer is "cyborgs". Baseline humans are too fragile to function in space, and machines alone are too uninspiring. Ultimately, Launius and McCurdy believe, space belongs to merger of both.

The book is very well researched, and presentation is convincing, although repetitive in places. "Tortoise and hare" analogy (applied to robotic and manned US space programs, respectively) grew a bit annoying with repetition, and Chapter 6 which speculates on interstellar flight seemed to me shoehorned in for no good reason. Hence 4 stars.

5.0 out of 5 stars Insightful and Groundbreaking, February 4, 2012

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Albert A. Harrison "aaharrison" (Davis, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Robots in Space: Technology, Evolution, and Interplanetary Travel (New Series in NASA History) (Hardcover)

This well researched and nicely written book proposes a useful alternative to the waning von Braun paradigm of using low earth orbit, lunar and Mars expeditions as stepping stones to the stars. Economic considerations, the frailty of human beings, and competing interests work against developing Utopian societies in space. Although the von Braum paradigm, bolstered by Krafft-Ehricke's extraterrestrial imperative and reinforced by the lure of a new frontier still appeals to many people (including this writer) as Launius and McCurdy point out the Moon landings represent the high water mark of humans in space, rather than a stepping stone to successively more adventurous missions. Can we find a more compelling paradigm for modern day audiences? The authors argue yes. Robots in Space is not a mere rehash of the strengths and weaknesses of piloted and robotic missions, rather it proposes a broad strategy combining astronomy,physical and life sciences, piloted and robot missions that will benefit space exploration,the search for extraterrestrial life, and planetary defense. They propose, in other words, a strategy that will appeal to the whole field of astrobiology. Roger Launius and Howard McCurdy are superb scholars who draw on their own expertise and the storehouse of history to develop a synergistic, interdisciplinary program for discovery and I am glad to have a copy.