Multigenerational Interstellar Exploration | Larry Thomsen | TEDxYouth@ChoateRosemaryHall
Multi-generational interstellar exploration is necessary to understand our place in the Milky Way, as humanity has historically shared a deep curiosity about the stars. The speaker argues for this through historical parallels, pointing to past civilizations' astronomical wonders, and proposing using small, reliable spacecraft to conduct missions spanning decades or centuries. The core evidence provided is the comparison between expensive, large-scale missions (like Galileo) and the increasing affordability and capability of the Cubesat market. ## Theses & Positions - Society should engage in multi-generational interstellar exploration to understand humanity's existence within the Solar System and the Milky Way. - Human curiosity regarding the stars and our place in the cosmos is a persistent, multi-generational drive, traceable from Machu Picchu to modern astronomy. - Small, inexpensive spacecraft are ideal for sustaining long-duration missions (30-year or 100-year) because they can be repeatedly upgraded and become more reliable over time. - These exploration missions yield significant benefits beyond science, including STEM education, training the next generation of technologists, and fostering global geopolitical cooperation. ## Concepts & Definitions - **Interstellar exploration:** Missions designed to study how humanity exists within the galaxy beyond the solar system. - **Multi-generational:** Implies that the effort and knowledge must span multiple generations to achieve the scientific goals. - **Heliosphere:** The bubble of space carved out by the solar wind, containing the solar system. - **Cubesat market:** The rapidly developing sector for small satellites, reaching an estimated $1 billion in the next three years. ## Mechanisms & Processes - **Technological progression:** Moving from expensive, large-scale, single-use missions (e.g., Galileo, $1.4 billion in 1980s dollars) to modular, smaller spacecraft. - **Mission longevity improvement:** Overcoming degradation from radiation (Solar Particle Events, Van Allen belts) to enable missions lasting decades or even centuries. - **Mapping:** Using constellation efforts and small satellites to map the solar system and galaxy's structure more thoroughly than prior methods. ## Timeline & Sequence - **Historical Curiosity:** Traced from Machu Picchu and ancient Egyptian civilizations through religious experiences (monotheistic to polytheistic). - **Astronomical Paradigm Shift:** From Ptolemy's geocentric model to the Copernican heliocentric model, experimentally confirmed by Galileo. - **Space Exploration Milestones:** Referenced missions include the Viking missions (Mars), Galileo (Jupiter, took eight years, cost $1.4 billion in 1980s dollars), and the initial Voyager 1 and 2 launches (going out for 44 years). - **Market Growth:** Prediction that the Cubesat market will reach one billion dollars within three years. ## Named Entities - **Machu Picchu, Eastern Island GAO Chen:** Examples of ancient locations exhibiting curiosity toward the stars. - **Ptolemy:** Authority who believed the Earth was the center of the solar system (geocentric view). - **Copernicus:** Astronomer who proposed the sun-centered model. - **Galileo:** Scientist who experimentally supported the heliocentric model. - **Curiosity:** The shared human drive to understand existence in the universe. - **The Milky Way:** The galaxy in which the Solar System resides. - **The Zodiac:** A map containing constellations. - **Ursa Major, Salina, Draco:** Examples of constellations depicted on 17th-century maps. - **Van Allen belts:** Regions of space that generate radiation, causing spacecraft degradation. - **Bok Choy:** Used as a model example for biological life sustaining research on the International Space Station. ## Numbers & Data - Number of planets/locations visited by Voyager and Cassini/Pluto: Mentioned specific planetary targets (Neptune, Saturn, Mars, Jupiter). - Duration for Voyager to reach Neptune: **Over 12 years**. - Duration for New Horizons to reach Pluto: **Over 12 years**. - Duration for the Galileo mission to reach Jupiter: **Eight years**. - Cost of Galileo (1980s dollars): **$1.4 billion**. - Estimated cost to redo Galileo today: **Over $2 billion**. - Current estimate for the Cubesat market: **Over half a billion, a billion in the next three years**. - Voyager 1 and 2 mission duration: **Going out for 44 years**. - Solar System interactions: Information gathered from the **Voyager 1** and **Voyager 2** trajectories, shown as only two points on a map. ## Examples & Cases - **Astronomical Wonder:** Observations of eclipses cited in Judeo-Christian Bible verses. - **Cosmic Data Source:** Images from the **James Webb Telescope** showing galaxies at the beginnings of the first civilization. - **Planetary Visits:** Missions to Mars (Viking), Jupiter (Galileo), and the outer planets (Voyager, Cassini, New Horizons). - **Modern Satellites:** The rise of the **CubeSat market** as a vehicle for exploration. - **Biological Sustainability:** The Bok Choy on the Space Station as an example of nurturing life in space. ## Tools, Tech & Products - **James Webb Telescope (JWST):** Tool observing light from the universe's beginning. - **Voyager 1 and 2:** Deep-space spacecraft providing trajectories beyond the solar system. - **Galileo spacecraft:** Mission to Jupiter, launched in the 1980s. - **CubeSats:** Small, modular, low-cost satellites. - **Shuttle missions:** Launch vehicle category used for historical context. ## Counterarguments & Caveats - The current visible data on solar system interaction (Voyager 1 & 2) is limited to just two points. - The hazardous radiation levels (Solar Particle Events, Van Allen belts) limit the operational lifetime of spacecraft. ## Implications & Consequences - Multi-generational effort is required to sustain missions far beyond current technological lifecycles. - Successful development of small, reliable spacecraft enables mapping of the galaxy's structure and understanding of our role. - These missions generate knowledge that benefits STEM education and fosters international cooperation among nations. ## Verbatim Moments - *"I'm going to make a case that we should be doing more of these missions to explore how our how we exist in the solar system how do we exist in the Milky Way."* - *"It's exposed to Big curiosity over the ages from different from us from our own religious experiences or Persuasions from monotheistic to polytheistic."* - *"it wasn't until Copernicus and then experimentally shown by Galileo that we're in a heliocentric solar system where we on Earth are orbiting around the sun and the planets orbiting around the Sun."* - *"It took up generations of effort to get to those two points two trajectories out beyond our solar system where we are in the Milky Way."* - *"It's like plotting a map where a Helios sphere bubble with very little information about how that exists."* - *"If we develop small spacecrafts Beyond what's currently being gone where we can think Generations 30 years why don't we go for a hundred years to get out there out into interstellar space."* - *"the cubesat market is over a half billion a billion in the next three years."* - *"we're looking beyond our own generations and answering those questions what is what is it how do we look beyond our solar system and how do we fit in a Milky Way."*