Beyond Earth (ATWG) Foreword by Edgar Mitchell

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FOREWORD

By Edgar Mitchell, Sc.D., Captain, US Navy (Ret) - Apollo 14 Astronaut

Earth's adventures into space are not yet fifty years old as this account is being written. Flat Earth thinkers and doubters notwithstanding, we have been to our nearest neighbor in space, the Moon, and initiated explorations there. I assert this from first-hand knowledge, as one who has made that wonderful journey. It is understandable, however, since more than half of Earth's current population were not yet born at the time of the Apollo flights to the moon, that a certain mystique, a mythology, and even doubt, has recently arisen about those first efforts at space faring voyages from Earth's surface. To some they seem incredible.

If we think back five centuries to the period when the first circumnavigations of the globe occurred, we ask, were fifteenth century shipbuilders and seamen holding lengthy discussions and conferences, writing learned papers and books, debating about the risks and opportunities of global exploration, market expansion, trade, and tourism? And the problems attendant there to? I doubt it. A few visionary explorers and entrepreneurs, even dating back to the Phoenicians, and acting mostly alone, certainly caught the idea of exploration via the Earth's oceans and they led the way. But then it did not take the resources of an entire nation, and years of new science and technological development to make the leap. A sturdy ship, a willing crew, and enough provisions for a few months were sufficient for an explorer to get started toward distant lands on Earth.

And even at the beginning of space exploration in October 1957, our knowledge of the cosmos was severely limited. No humans had risen beyond twenty thousand meters, and understanding the larger cosmos was still in its infancy. The visionary astronomer, Sir Fred Hoyle (1915 - 2001), observed at the beginning of the space age that when he first saw a picture of Earth from deep space, his view of life would not be the same again. And he was correct. The pictures of Earth from deep space have touched us all deeply, and stirred profound questions about our existence, our origins, and of course our future.

Though the decision to explore our lunar neighbor was motivated fundamentally by political considerations, it nevertheless constituted a rapid expansion of human experience and embodied the timeless quest for greater knowledge, in this case as available only through the genius of twentieth century science and technology. It also continued the human destiny, evident since our earliest days, of venturing further into the unknown, and establishing our presence there. Never before, however, have the challenges been so great, the risk so unrelenting, the necessity so imperative, nor the reward so compelling - for now that we know about the limited life cycle of every solar system, in the long term our venture into space has to do with the ultimate survival of our species.

Yes, we will go deeper into our solar system, and beyond in due course, of that I am sure. The latter will take new science and new understanding, but the former is mostly a matter of technology, political will, and resources. While we lost the momentum for human deep space exploration following the initial lunar missions, perhaps it is just as well. For one can make a strong argument that the exploration of our solar system, and beyond, should be a cooperative effort of our entire planetary civilization, not just one nation. Clearly, however, we are not yet ready to undertake such adventures as a united world, and we can but hope that just maybe we will learn to settle our differences short of war, before we export that brand of insanity outside of our atmosphere.

Available to us still, however, are the detailed records of our initial accomplishments in space, and the living talents of many of the men and women who have brought us through these initial fifty years. The personal knowledge, experiences and skill of these individuals are invaluable for understanding what should be done next in order to continue the quest toward future extraterrestrial goals.

It is toward that end that many of the pioneers in space exploration have come together to present this volume, to examine key questions and issues that we confront as our Earth-originated civilization continues its quest to explore and understand the cosmos through robots and by human space flight. The legacy that we, the participants in the greatest space adventure of the twentieth century, can leave to those that follow, is our experience, our best thinking and advice to those that pick up where we left off, in order to continue the adventure. I believe that this volume informs and inspires their efforts.

Extracted from the book Beyond Earth - The Future of Humans in Space edited by Bob Krone ©2006 Apogee Books ISBN 978-1-894959-41-4

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