The Millennial Project: Colonizing the Galaxy in Eight Easy Steps
Encyclopedia
The Millennial Project: Colonizing the Galaxy in Eight Easy Steps by Marshall T. Savage
is a book (published in 1992 and reprinted in 1994 with an introduction by Arthur C. Clarke
) in the field of Exploratory engineering
that gives a series of concrete stages the author believes will lead to interstellar colonization. Many specific scientific and engineering details are presented, as are numerous issues involved in Space colonization
.
of human population
and life in general, and also recommends the exponential growth of blue-green algae for sustenance
. He states that it is humanity's manifest destiny
to colonize every star in the galaxy. He draws heavily on the Fermi paradox
(briefly stated as, "If there is intelligent life in space, why haven't we found it yet?") to support his position that it is humanity's burden alone to ignite the universe with the "spark of Life."
In The Millennial Project, he calls for the creation of an international foundation to realize these goals. Originally known as the First Millennial Foundation (founded by Savage in 1987), the organization changed its name to the Living Universe Foundation.
The "Eight Easy Steps" proposed by Savage are as follows:
In the early stages of the Project, Savage recommends Spirulina algae as a primary foodstuff, supplemented by seafood mariculture
from the cities of the Aquarius phase.
The Living Universe Foundation, previously known as the First Millennial Foundation, is an organization
that supports ocean
and space colonization
more or less based upon the book The Millennial Project. Space Environments Ecovillage in Bastrop, Texas, is one of the few LUF projects that have materialized so far.
construction and space colonization
, it touches very little on the subject of how government
s and societies will need to change to enact the Project. Defenders and the author himself maintain that one man writing one book cannot be expected to write out the entire course of human development over the next millennium, and that others more suited to the field of social psychology
will be needed for the Project's completion.
Marshall Savage
Marshall Thomas Savage is an advocate of space travel who wrote The Millennial Project: Colonizing the Galaxy in Eight Easy Steps and founded the Living Universe Foundation, which was designed to make plans for stellar exploration over the next 1,000 years....
is a book (published in 1992 and reprinted in 1994 with an introduction by Arthur C. Clarke
Arthur C. Clarke
Sir Arthur Charles Clarke, CBE, FRAS was a British science fiction author, inventor, and futurist, famous for his short stories and novels, among them 2001: A Space Odyssey, and as a host and commentator in the British television series Mysterious World. For many years, Robert A. Heinlein,...
) in the field of Exploratory engineering
Exploratory engineering
Exploratory engineering is a term coined by K. Eric Drexler to describe the process of designing and analyzing detailed hypothetical models of systems that are not feasible with current technologies or methods, but do seem to be clearly within the bounds of what science considers to be possible...
that gives a series of concrete stages the author believes will lead to interstellar colonization. Many specific scientific and engineering details are presented, as are numerous issues involved in Space colonization
Space colonization
Space colonization is the concept of permanent human habitation outside of Earth. Although hypothetical at the present time, there are many proposals and speculations about the first space colony...
.
The book's thesis
Savage takes a Malthusian view of the exponential growthExponential growth
Exponential growth occurs when the growth rate of a mathematical function is proportional to the function's current value...
of human population
Population
A population is all the organisms that both belong to the same group or species and live in the same geographical area. The area that is used to define a sexual population is such that inter-breeding is possible between any pair within the area and more probable than cross-breeding with individuals...
and life in general, and also recommends the exponential growth of blue-green algae for sustenance
Sustenance
Sustenance can refer to any means of subsistence or livelihood within a region or a country;*food*any subsistence economy: see list of subsistence techniques**hunting-gathering**animal husbandry**subsistence agriculture...
. He states that it is humanity's manifest destiny
Manifest Destiny
Manifest Destiny was the 19th century American belief that the United States was destined to expand across the continent. It was used by Democrat-Republicans in the 1840s to justify the war with Mexico; the concept was denounced by Whigs, and fell into disuse after the mid-19th century.Advocates of...
to colonize every star in the galaxy. He draws heavily on the Fermi paradox
Fermi paradox
The Fermi paradox is the apparent contradiction between high estimates of the probability of the existence of extraterrestrial civilizations and the lack of evidence for, or contact with, such civilizations....
(briefly stated as, "If there is intelligent life in space, why haven't we found it yet?") to support his position that it is humanity's burden alone to ignite the universe with the "spark of Life."
In The Millennial Project, he calls for the creation of an international foundation to realize these goals. Originally known as the First Millennial Foundation (founded by Savage in 1987), the organization changed its name to the Living Universe Foundation.
The steps of the project
- Foundation Constitute an organization convened to realize these destinies
- Aquarius ArcologiesArcologyArcology, a portmanteau of the words "architecture" and "ecology", is a set of architectural design principles aimed toward the design of enormous habitats of extremely high human population density. These largely hypothetical structures would contain a variety of residential, commercial, and...
built in the tropical oceans as a first step to learning how to build ("grow") colonies in space using a method not unlike that used by living coralCoralCorals are marine animals in class Anthozoa of phylum Cnidaria typically living in compact colonies of many identical individual "polyps". The group includes the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and secrete calcium carbonate to form a hard skeleton.A coral "head" is a colony of...
s developed by Prof. Wolf Hartmut HilbertzWolf HilbertzProf. Wolf Hartmut Hilbertz was a German-born futurist architect, inventor, and marine scientist.-Youth and schooling:...
and applying his concept of Cybertecture. They also would generate income to fund later steps. - BifrostBifröstIn Norse mythology, Bifrost or Bilröst is a burning rainbow bridge that reaches between Midgard and Asgard, the realm of the gods...
First step in actually getting off the EarthEarthEarth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
using ground based Free electron laserFree electron laserA free-electron laser, or FEL, is a laser that shares the same optical properties as conventional lasers such as emitting a beam consisting of coherent electromagnetic radiation which can reach high power, but which uses some very different operating principles to form the beam...
-powered laser propelledBeam-powered propulsionBeam-powered propulsion is a class of aircraft or spacecraft propulsion mechanisms that use energy beamed to the spacecraft from a remote power plant to provide energy...
WaveriderWaveriderA waverider is a hypersonic aircraft design that improves its supersonic lift-to-drag ratio by using the shock waves being generated by its own flight as a lifting surface. To date the only aircraft to use the technique is the Mach 3 supersonic XB-70 Valkyrie, which was waverider-like with its...
. Leik MyraboLeik MyraboLeik Myrabo is an aerospace engineering professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute who has demonstrated the feasibility of using ground-based lasers to propel objects into orbit; possibly reducing orbit-flight costs by a factor of 1000.-Research:...
, an aerospace engineering professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic InstituteRensselaer Polytechnic InstituteStephen Van Rensselaer established the Rensselaer School on November 5, 1824 with a letter to the Rev. Dr. Samuel Blatchford, in which van Rensselaer asked Blatchford to serve as the first president. Within the letter he set down several orders of business. He appointed Amos Eaton as the school's...
, demonstrated the feasibility of using ground-based lasers to propel objects into orbit in 1988. - Asgard Build a space stationSpace stationA space station is a spacecraft capable of supporting a crew which is designed to remain in space for an extended period of time, and to which other spacecraft can dock. A space station is distinguished from other spacecraft used for human spaceflight by its lack of major propulsion or landing...
in geosynchronous orbitGeosynchronous orbitA geosynchronous orbit is an orbit around the Earth with an orbital period that matches the Earth's sidereal rotation period...
. - AvalonAvalonAvalon is a legendary island featured in the Arthurian legend. It first appears in Geoffrey of Monmouth's 1136 pseudohistorical account Historia Regum Britanniae as the place where King Arthur's sword Excalibur was forged and later where Arthur was...
Build colonies on the MoonMoonThe Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
by doming over the craterImpact craterIn the broadest sense, the term impact crater can be applied to any depression, natural or manmade, resulting from the high velocity impact of a projectile with a larger body...
s and creating miniature ecologies. - ElysiumElysiumElysium is a conception of the afterlife that evolved over time and was maintained by certain Greek religious and philosophical sects, and cults. Initially separate from Hades, admission was initially reserved for mortals related to the gods and other heroes...
Start TerraformingTerraformingTerraforming of a planet, moon, or other body is the hypothetical process of deliberately modifying its atmosphere, temperature, surface topography or ecology to be similar to those of Earth, in order to make it habitable by terrestrial organisms.The term is sometimes used more generally as a...
MarsMarsMars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
to "create a living planet to sustain us" connected with Earth through Buzz AldrinBuzz AldrinBuzz Aldrin is an American mechanical engineer, retired United States Air Force pilot and astronaut who was the Lunar Module pilot on Apollo 11, the first manned lunar landing in history...
's proposed Mars Transit System, an example of Earth-Mars cyclerMars cyclerA Mars cycler is a special kind of spacecraft trajectory that encounters Earth and Mars on a regular basis. The term Mars cycler may also refer to a spacecraft on a Mars cycler trajectory...
. - Solaria Mine asteroids to create asteroid colonies and Asgard-like stations throughout the solar system to create a Dyson cloudDyson sphereA Dyson sphere is a hypothetical megastructure originally described by Freeman Dyson. Such a "sphere" would be a system of orbiting solar power satellites meant to completely encompass a star and capture most or all of its energy output...
. - Galactia Colonize beyond the Solar System, expand throughout the galaxyGalaxyA galaxy is a massive, gravitationally bound system that consists of stars and stellar remnants, an interstellar medium of gas and dust, and an important but poorly understood component tentatively dubbed dark matter. The word galaxy is derived from the Greek galaxias , literally "milky", a...
heading to a level 3 on the Kardashev scaleKardashev scaleThe Kardashev scale is a method of measuring an advanced civilization's level of technological advancement. The scale is only theoretical and in terms of an actual civilization highly speculative; however, it puts energy consumption of an entire civilization in a cosmic perspective. It was first...
, a method of measuring a civilization's level of technological advancement.
In the early stages of the Project, Savage recommends Spirulina algae as a primary foodstuff, supplemented by seafood mariculture
Mariculture
Mariculture is a specialized branch of aquaculture involving the cultivation of marine organisms for food and other products in the open ocean, an enclosed section of the ocean, or in tanks, ponds or raceways which are filled with seawater. An example of the latter is the farming of marine fish,...
from the cities of the Aquarius phase.
The Living Universe Foundation, previously known as the First Millennial Foundation, is an organization
Organization
An organization is a social group which distributes tasks for a collective goal. The word itself is derived from the Greek word organon, itself derived from the better-known word ergon - as we know `organ` - and it means a compartment for a particular job.There are a variety of legal types of...
that supports ocean
Ocean colonization
Ocean colonization is the theory and practice of permanent human settlement of oceans. Such settlements may float on the surface of the water, or be secured to the ocean floor, or exist in an intermediate position....
and space colonization
Space colonization
Space colonization is the concept of permanent human habitation outside of Earth. Although hypothetical at the present time, there are many proposals and speculations about the first space colony...
more or less based upon the book The Millennial Project. Space Environments Ecovillage in Bastrop, Texas, is one of the few LUF projects that have materialized so far.
Criticisms
The book has drawn some criticism in that while it is replete with details concerning OTECOcean thermal energy conversion
Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion uses the difference between cooler deep and warmer shallow or surface ocean waters to run a heat engine and produce useful work, usually in the form of electricity....
construction and space colonization
Space colonization
Space colonization is the concept of permanent human habitation outside of Earth. Although hypothetical at the present time, there are many proposals and speculations about the first space colony...
, it touches very little on the subject of how government
Government
Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...
s and societies will need to change to enact the Project. Defenders and the author himself maintain that one man writing one book cannot be expected to write out the entire course of human development over the next millennium, and that others more suited to the field of social psychology
Social psychology
Social psychology is the scientific study of how people's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others. By this definition, scientific refers to the empirical method of investigation. The terms thoughts, feelings, and behaviors include all...
will be needed for the Project's completion.
See also
- Mining the SkyMining the Sky: Untold Riches from the Asteroids, Comets, and PlanetsMining the Sky: Untold Riches from the Asteroids, Comets, and Planets is a book by John S. Lewis which discusses the development of interplanetary space within our solar system....
by John S. LewisJohn S. LewisJohn S. Lewis is a professor of planetary science at the University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory. His interests in the chemistry and formation of the solar system and the economic development of space have made him a leading proponent of turning potentially hazardous near-Earth... - The Case For MarsThe Case For MarsThe Case for Mars: The Plan to Settle the Red Planet and Why We Must is a nonfiction science book by Robert Zubrin, first published in 1996....
by Robert ZubrinRobert ZubrinRobert Zubrin is an American aerospace engineer and author, best known for his advocacy of the manned exploration of Mars. He was the driving force behind Mars Direct—a proposal intended to produce significant reductions in the cost and complexity of such a mission... - The High Frontier: Human Colonies in SpaceThe High Frontier: Human Colonies in SpaceThe High Frontier: Human Colonies in Space is a 1976 book by Gerard K. O'Neill, a road map for what the United States might do in outer space after the Apollo program, the drive to place a man on the Moon. It envisions large manned habitats in the Earth-Moon system, especially near stable...
by Gerard O'NeillGerard O'NeillGerard Kitchen O'Neill was an American physicist and space activist. As a faculty member of Princeton University, he invented a device called the particle storage ring for high-energy physics experiments. Later, he invented a magnetic launcher called the mass driver... - Engines of CreationEngines of CreationEngines of Creation: The Coming Era of Nanotechnology is a 1986 molecular nanotechnology book written by K. Eric Drexler with a foreword by Marvin Minsky. An updated version was released in 2007...
by K. Eric DrexlerK. Eric DrexlerDr. Kim Eric Drexler is an American engineer best known for popularizing the potential of molecular nanotechnology , from the 1970s and 1980s.His 1991 doctoral thesis at MIT was revised and published as...
- Antimatter rocketAntimatter rocketAn antimatter rocket is a proposed class of rockets that use antimatter as their power source. There are several designs that attempt to accomplish this goal...
- Asteroid miningAsteroid miningAsteroid mining refers to the possibility of exploiting raw materials from asteroids and planetoids in space, including near-Earth objects. Minerals and volatiles could be mined from an asteroid or spent comet to provide space construction material , to extract water and oxygen to sustain the lives...
- Beam-powered propulsionBeam-powered propulsionBeam-powered propulsion is a class of aircraft or spacecraft propulsion mechanisms that use energy beamed to the spacecraft from a remote power plant to provide energy...
- BiorockBiorockBiorock, also known as Seacrete, is a substance formed by electro-accumulation of minerals dissolved in seawater. The building process, popularly called accretion, is not to be confused with Biorock sewage treatment...
- Closed Ecological Life Support SystemControlled Ecological Life Support SystemControlled Ecological Life Support Systems are a type of scientific endeavor to create a self-supporting life support system for space stations and colonies typically through controlled closed ecological systems, such as the BioHome, BIOS-3 and Biosphere 2.-Original concept:CELSS was first...
or CELSS - Dyson sphereDyson sphereA Dyson sphere is a hypothetical megastructure originally described by Freeman Dyson. Such a "sphere" would be a system of orbiting solar power satellites meant to completely encompass a star and capture most or all of its energy output...
- Electrical muscle stimulationElectrical muscle stimulationElectrical muscle stimulation , also known as neuromuscular electrical stimulation or electromyostimulation, is the elicitation of muscle contraction using electric impulses...
- Free electron laserFree electron laserA free-electron laser, or FEL, is a laser that shares the same optical properties as conventional lasers such as emitting a beam consisting of coherent electromagnetic radiation which can reach high power, but which uses some very different operating principles to form the beam...
- Fusion powerFusion powerFusion power is the power generated by nuclear fusion processes. In fusion reactions two light atomic nuclei fuse together to form a heavier nucleus . In doing so they release a comparatively large amount of energy arising from the binding energy due to the strong nuclear force which is manifested...
- Individual sovereigntySelf-ownershipSelf-ownership is the concept of property in one's own person, expressed as the moral or natural right of a person to be the exclusive controller of his own body and life. According to G...
- Inflatable space habitatInflatable space habitatInflatable habitats or expandable habitats are pressurized structures capable of supporting life in outer space whose internal volume increases after launch...
- In-Situ Resource UtilizationIn-Situ Resource UtilizationIn space exploration, in-situ resource utilization describes the proposed use of resources found or manufactured on other astronomical objects to further the goals of a space mission....
- Kardashev scaleKardashev scaleThe Kardashev scale is a method of measuring an advanced civilization's level of technological advancement. The scale is only theoretical and in terms of an actual civilization highly speculative; however, it puts energy consumption of an entire civilization in a cosmic perspective. It was first...
- KerogenKerogenKerogen is a mixture of organic chemical compounds that make up a portion of the organic matter in sedimentary rocks. It is insoluble in normal organic solvents because of the huge molecular weight of its component compounds. The soluble portion is known as bitumen. When heated to the right...
- Kessler SyndromeKessler SyndromeThe Kessler syndrome , proposed by NASA scientist Donald J...
- Leik MyraboLeik MyraboLeik Myrabo is an aerospace engineering professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute who has demonstrated the feasibility of using ground-based lasers to propel objects into orbit; possibly reducing orbit-flight costs by a factor of 1000.-Research:...
- LightcraftLightcraftA lightcraft is a space- or air-vehicle driven by laser propulsion. Laser propulsion is currently in early stages of development. Lightcraft use an external source of laser or maser energy to provide power for producing thrust. The laser/maser energy is focused to a high intensity in order to...
- Mars cyclerMars cyclerA Mars cycler is a special kind of spacecraft trajectory that encounters Earth and Mars on a regular basis. The term Mars cycler may also refer to a spacecraft on a Mars cycler trajectory...
- Mass launcherMass driverA mass driver or electromagnetic catapult is a proposed method of non-rocket spacelaunch which would use a linear motor to accelerate and catapult payloads up to high speeds. All existing and contemplated mass drivers use coils of wire energized by electricity to make electromagnets. Sequential...
- Ocean thermal energy conversionOcean thermal energy conversionOcean Thermal Energy Conversion uses the difference between cooler deep and warmer shallow or surface ocean waters to run a heat engine and produce useful work, usually in the form of electricity....
- Project ValkyrieProject ValkyrieThe Valkyrie is a theoretical spacecraft designed by Charles Pellegrino and Jim Powell . The Valkyrie is theoretically able to accelerate to 92% the speed of light and decelerate afterward, carrying a small human crew to another star system.-Design:The Valkyrie's high performance is attributable to...
- Seacrete
- Mechanical counterpressure suitSpace activity suitA space activity suit or mechanical counterpressure suit is an experimental spacesuit which applies stable pressure against the skin by means of skintight elastic garments. The SAS is not inflated like a conventional spacesuit: it uses mechanical pressure, rather than air pressure, to compress the...
- Space geostrategySpace geostrategyGeostrategy in space deals with the strategic considerations of location and resources in outer space territory. In essence, it is the study of the strategic application of resources to the geography of space...
- Super Critical Water OxidizerSupercritical water oxidationSupercritical water oxidation or SCWO is a process that occurs in water at temperatures and pressures above a mixture's thermodynamic critical point. Under these conditions water becomes a fluid with unique properties that can be used to advantage in the destruction of hazardous wastes such as PCBs...
or SCWO - TelepossessionTelepossessionTelepossession is a relatively new legal concept. Maritime salvage in the case of the SS Central America is where the term gained importance. In the case of the SS Central America, the Columbus-American Discovery Group Inc. won over the insurer, Atlantic Mutual Insurance Company...
- Terraforming of MarsTerraforming of MarsThe terraforming of Mars is the hypothetical process by which the climate, surface, and known properties of Mars would be deliberately changed with the goal of making it habitable by humans and other terrestrial life, thus providing the possibility of safe and sustainable colonization of large...
- Universal fabricator and Universal assembler
- WaveriderWaveriderA waverider is a hypersonic aircraft design that improves its supersonic lift-to-drag ratio by using the shock waves being generated by its own flight as a lifting surface. To date the only aircraft to use the technique is the Mach 3 supersonic XB-70 Valkyrie, which was waverider-like with its...
- Prof. Wolf Hartmut HilbertzWolf HilbertzProf. Wolf Hartmut Hilbertz was a German-born futurist architect, inventor, and marine scientist.-Youth and schooling:...
- Human outpostHuman outpostHuman outposts are artificially-created, controlled human habitats located in environments inhospitable for humans, such as on the ocean floor, in space or on another planet....