Entering Space: Creating a Spacefaring Civilization
by Robert Zubrin
List Price:
Our Price: $4.94
You Save: $12.01 (71%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $2.45 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Robert ZubrinEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2000-08-07
ISBN: 1585420360
Number of pages: 320
Publisher: Tarcher
Book Reviews of Entering Space: Creating a Spacefaring Civilization
Book Review: Wealth of ideas on humanity's future in space
Summary: 4 Stars
Zubrin presents a great number of facts about the technology of space travel, from Earth orbit outwards to the stars. I thought the chapter on "Meeting E.T" was more than a little indulgent, but he was probably only bowing to pressure from the publisher or editor, because naturally they want the "product" (from their businesslike POV) to have as much mass market appeal as possible.
Chapters 2, 3, and 4 do a thorough job of describing the current (or, then-current as of the book's publication date of 1999) state of rocketry technology and commercial rocket projects. Unfortunately, none of the projects he mentions made it as operational spacecraft, except possibly for Burt Rutan's Proteus, which we know today evolved into the X-prize-winning SpaceShipOne. The only other successful private booster I'm aware of, the SpaceX Falcon 9, isn't mentioned and apparently was just an idea in someone's head at the time of the book.
His discussion of the nuts-and-bolts of rocketry is serviceable but basic. He presents the rocket equation and explains the importance of specific impulse. A plain-English explanation of how staging improves performance is an unusual feature for a popular-press book on rocketry, as is Zubrin's discussion of the desireability and requirements of SSTO. But if you want to know stuff like 1) why an aerospike nozzle works better than a bell nozzle, or 3) why the pressure in the combustion chamber depends on the turbopumps, or 4) why exhaust velocity matched to rocket velocity gives greatest efficiency -- then you have to look elsewhere (boys and girls: see ending paragraph here this review for the answers)
His criticisms of the current cost-plus accounting system and the design deficiencies of the Space Shuttle are well worth consideration.
Zubrin is fairly pessemistic regarding the prospects for commercial development of space, and now that we're here 12 years later and Virgin Galactic is still gearing up for paid sub-orbital tourism, this conclusion of his seems justified. He says, "...the core notion that the final frontier can be opened on the basis of entrepreneurial business plans is wrong...So long as the only driver for commerical development of new launch systems is the delivery of satellites, commercial development of space-launch systems that can enable human settlement of space will be impossible..the fundamental problem facing the human race today -- the creation of a true spacefaring Type II civilization -- will not be solved by developing orbital private enterprise in geocentric space...human beings will never settle Earth orbit, because there is nothing there to settle. We need to reach beyond. When we do so, we will not be led, but be followed by the entrepreneurs...money is timid...the trail will have to be blazed by those who live for Hope and not for cash."
(One point I should like to interject here is that Zubrin does not make clear if it is his belief that the Hopeful will be the Government (or Governments), or some filthy rich private citizen who doesn't care so much about making space pay, but rather perhaps historical glory as the Launcher of Humanity into Space. Makes one wonder why doesn't some Bill Gates or Warren Buffet set aside a piddling 10 or 15 billion to secure a place in the history books? Maybe because these days there are no longer any history books at all -- or history students or even historically-minded citizens --, just Wikipedia and Twitter and Facebook. Electrons, like dollars, are timid.)
He does not set great store in the idea originated by Gerard O'Neill for the profitable export of solar-generated electricity to earth. In fact, he finds something wrong with just about all schemes for collecting solar energy in space. For instance, he cites the scarcity of silicon on the Moon as a reason for discounting the possibility of wide-scale photovoltaic power generation. But the Moon has an abundance of aluminum with which large arrays of mirrors could be built, for focusing sunlight on turbogenerators.
He does set great store on thermonuclear fusion based on deuterium and helium-3 fuels. Here he goes into considerable detail -- so much so that this book could serve as a useful introduction to this technology for someone who lacks a text dedicated to subject of fusion. One notable thing mentioned is that D-He3 fusion is not strictly aneutronic -- D-D side reactions will create some neutrons. Most authors neglect this little fact of fusion life. Strictly, I'll note myself, there are no such things as aneutronic fusion, even the vaunted lithium-7 or boron-11 plus proton reactions. These sorts of nuclear reactions are so energetic that the gamma rays are powerful enough to knock loose neutrons from the reactor structure. Neutrons, like all radiations, are a matter of degree.
Zubrin makes some interesting observations that aren't to be found elsewhere in the popular press. One interesting such tidbit is, according to him, that water ice deposits have actually been observed at the poles of Mercury.
The book touches upon a great number of topics: light sails, magsails, the more-efficient yet unused aerospike rocket nozzle (properly: the "free expansion ramp"), the minerology of the asteroids (properly: planetoids), the radiation belt surrounding Jupiter (affecting the habitability of the Jovian moons), Saturn's moon Titan, terraforming Venus, and the Oort Cloud.
There are a number of obvious things he doesn't include, one of which is, surprisingly, the vast fields of asteroids co-orbiting with Jupiter at its L4 and L5 Lagrange points, known as the Greeks and the Trojans (according to Lewis, 3 times as vast as the main belt). Some propulsion technologies that he omits from coverage are the mass driver (electromagnetic accelerator) as originated by Gerard O'Neill, beamed propulsion schemes: particle beam, laser, or microwave (but light sails are covered), and the VASIMR plasma rocket as originated by Franklin Chang-Diaz (soon to be tested in orbit at the ISS).
If a bit dated now, this book is still a worthy addition to the literature of space settlement.
Answers to quiz:
1) a bell nozzle expands the exhaust jet against the inner surface of a conical cavity. Due to heat and force of exhaust jet, and need to pump liquid through the bell to keep it from melting, the volume of exhaust jet expansion cannot be varied. Thus it must be optimized for one ambient pressure/altitude. The aerospike -- free expansion ramp -- instead expands the exhaust jet against the OUTSIDE surface of a ramp (2-D) or an inverted cone (3-D). Thus the exhaust jet can fully expand against the ambient air pressure with greatest efficiency. Unfortunately, no one has yet had the balls to do this with an operational rocket. Was tested in 1970s, planned for VentureStar till cancellation in 2000.
2) the combusting fuel tries to expand in all directions simultaneously, not only out the exhaust nozzle (which is all we want) but also back up the propellant feed lines to the tanks! So you need to force-feed the propellants into the combustion chamber at a pressure exceeding that produced by the combusting propellant. Turbopumps are the most effective way, though at lower efficiency and cost and technical risk, pressurized tanks of gas may be used.
3) Here I will plagarize from Wikipedia:
The problem is that at low speeds, the exhaust carries away a huge amount of kinetic energy rearward. This phenomenon is termed propulsive efficiency.
However, as speeds rise, the resultant exhaust speed goes down, and the overall vehicle energetic efficiency rises, reaching a peak of around 100% of the engine efficiency when the vehicle is travelling exactly at the same speed that the exhaust is emitted. In this case the exhaust would ideally stop dead in space behind the moving vehicle, taking away zero energy, and from conservation of energy, all the energy would end up in the vehicle. The efficiency then drops off again at even higher speeds as the exhaust ends up travelling forwards- trailing behind the vehicle.
Summary of Entering Space: Creating a Spacefaring Civilization
"Robert Zubrin is a true engineering genius like the heroic engineers of the past."
--Frederick Turner, American Enterprise
--Frederick Turner, American Enterprise
Using nuts-and-bolts engineering and a unique grasp of human history, Robert Zubrin takes us to the not-very-distant future, when our global society will branch out into the universe. From the current-day prospect of lunar bases and Mars settlements to the outer reaches of other galaxies, Zubrin delivers the most important and forward-looking work on space and the true possibilities of human exploration since Carl Sagan's Cosmos.
Sagan himself said of Zubrin's humans-to-Mars plan, "Bob Zubrin really, nearly alone, changed our thinking on this issue." With Entering Space, he takes us further, into the prospect of human expansion to the outer planets of our own solar system--and beyond.
Humans are not native to the Earth. So posits astronautical engineer Bob Zubrin in the opening of Entering Space. We're native to just a small sliver of it, the spot where our species originated in tropical Kenya. We set out from that paradise about 50,000 years ago, north into "the teeth of the Ice Age," and all the ground we've gained since then has been thanks to our tenacity and our tools.
Zubrin reasons that it's time we cover a little more ground. Written with a boyish enthusiasm and formidable techie know-how, Entering Space urges us to realize "the feasibility, the necessity, and the promise" of becoming a space-faring civilization, of colonizing our own solar system and beyond. And Zubrin, author of the influential and widely acclaimed The Case for Mars, knows his stuff--NASA adapted his plans for near-term human exploration of Mars, and Carl Sagan gave the author no less credit: "Bob Zubrin really, nearly alone, changed our thinking on this issue." Entering Space plots the second and third phases of humanity's course--now that we've mastered our own planet, Zubrin says we must first look to settling our solar system (beginning with Mars) and then to the galaxy beyond.
With its practicable visions of using "iceteroids" to terraform Mars and harnessing the power of the outlying gas giants ("the solar system's Persian Gulf"), Entering Space succeeds at making the fantastic seem attainable, the stuff of science fiction, science fact. --Paul Hughes
Astronomy Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Astronomy Books
Upper Atmosphere Models and Researchby Michael J. Rycroft
Pergamon Pr; Published: 1989-12-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $89.00
Lunar Science: Index, 1970-78: Conference Proceedingsby Amanda R Masterson
Pergamon Press; Published: 1979-11; Hardcover; Book
Titius-Bode Law of Planetary Distances: Its History and Theory (Monographs in Natural Philosophy)by Michael Martin Nieto
Pergamon Press; Published: 1972-08-17; Hardcover; Book
Elements of Literature, 6th Course: Literature of Britain with World Classicsby Jay Pasachoff
Holt, Rinehart and Winston; Published: 2000-10; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $47.00
The Jupiter Effectby John Gribbin, Isaac Asimov
HarperCollins Publishers; Published: 1977-02-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $119.10
Planetary System - Textbook Onlyby David Morrison
Addison-Wesley Longman, Incorporated; Published: 2003; Paperback; Book
Best price: $317.36
Night Sky (Collins Watch Guide)by Liz (ed) Bourne
Harpercollins Pub Ltd; Published: 1999-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $53.12
The Universe in a Nutshellby Stephen William Hawking
Baker and Taylor; Bantam; Published: 2001-11-06; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $12.69
Price in other shops:
The Cambridge Star Atlasby Wil Tirion
Cambridge University Press; Published: 2001-03-26; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $132.93
A Beginner's Guide to Constructing the Universe: Mathematical Archetypes of Nature, Art, and Scienceby Michael S. Schneider
HarperPerennial; Published: 1995-09-29; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.77
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
Space Enterprise: Living and Working Offworld in the 21st Century (Springer Praxis Books / Space Exploration)by Phillip Harris
Praxis; Published: 2008-10-24; Paperback; Book
Best price: $24.37
Price in other shops:
World-Building (Science Fiction Writing)by Stephen Gillett
Writer's Digest Books; Published: 1996-12-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.64
Price in other shops:
How to Build Your Own Spaceship: The Science of Personal Space Travelby Piers Bizony
Plume; Published: 2009-07-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.68
Price in other shops:
Centauri Dreams: Imagining and Planning Interstellar Explorationby Paul Gilster
Springer; Published: 2004-10-08; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $0.01
Price in other shops:
The Case for Mars: The Plan to Settle the Red Planet and Why We Mustby Robert Zubrin, Richard Wagner
Free Press; Published: 1997-11-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.65
Price in other shops:
Islands in the Sky: Bold New Ideas for Colonizing SpaceWiley; Published: 1996-01-25; Paperback; Book
Best price: $13.70
Price in other shops:
How to Live on Mars: A Trusty Guidebook to Surviving and Thriving on the Red Planetby Robert Zubrin
Three Rivers Press; Published: 2008-12-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.84
Price in other shops:
The Starflight Handbook: A Pioneer's Guide to Interstellar Travel (Wiley Science Editions)by Eugene F. Mallove, Gregory L. Matloff
John Wiley & Sons; Published: 1989-06-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $13.00
Price in other shops:
Mining The Sky: Untold Riches From The Asteroids, Comets, And Planets (Helix Book)by John S. Lewis
Basic Books; Published: 1997-09-23; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.25
Price in other shops:
The Case for Mars: The Plan to Settle the Red Planet and Why We Mustby Robert Zubrin
Free Press; Published: 2011-06-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.78
Price in other shops: