zeus@AEROSPACE.ARPA (08/14/85)
From: Dave Suess <zeus@AEROSPACE.ARPA> The recent discussion on Why We Must Leave Earth seems to have omitted perhaps the most compelling reason. Dr. Krafft Ehricke (of V2 fame, as well as the Shuttle pre-cursor, Dyna-Soar) has described what he calls "the Extraterrestrial Imperative". The concept involves all sorts of dandy notions (biosphere, 2nd Law of Thermo, technosphere, the "informational metabolism" toward which we are evolving, and many more), but the basic thrust I got when I heard him speak where I work is: We gotta go, 'cause the sun's going out in five billion years. Maybe we can delay by burning the gas giants near us, but without a large supply of energy to tap, where will Homo Whatever be? Ehricke compares our solar system to a womb, furthermore, and says that an embryo cannot stay too long in the womb (or womb and embryo both wither and die). Interesting stuff-- maybe someone has seen some of Ehricke's thoughts in print somewhere? Last I heard, he was with Space Global Company, presumably pursuing neat stuff. The "androsphere" has to leave after the lights go out on Sol, and Ehricke's already planning the exodus... Dave Suess (guess I'll continue to rent...) zeus@aerospace