Robots in Space: Technology, Evolution, and Interplanetary Travel

334 Pages·2008·2.098 MB·English

by  Roger D. Launius, Howard E. McCurdy

Robots in Space
new series in nasa history
Steven J. Dick, Series Editor
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Robots in Space
Technology, Evolution, and Interplanetary Travel
roger d. launius
and
howard e. mccurdy
The Johns Hopkins University Press
Baltimore
©2008The Johns Hopkins University Press
All rights reserved. Published 2008
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Library ofCongress Cataloging in Publication Data
Launius, Roger D.
Robots in space : technology, evolution, and interplanetary travel /
Roger D. Launius and Howard E. McCurdy
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13:978-0-8018-8708-6(hardcover : alk. paper)
ISBN-10:0-8018-8708-9(hardcover : alk. paper)
1. Robots. 2. Space robotics. I. McCurdy, Howard E. II. Title.
TJ211.L38 2007
629.4—dc22 2007019374
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Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction: A False Dichotomy xi
1 The Human/Robot Debate 1
2 Human Spaceflight as Utopia 32
3 Promoting the Human Dimension 62
4 Robotic Spaceflight in Popular Culture 96
5 The New Space Race 125
6 Interstellar Flight and the Human Future in Space 162
7 Homo sapiens,Transhumanism, and the Postbiological Universe 191
8 An Alternative Paradigm? 220
Appendix: Inadequate Words 253
Notes 257
Index 303
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Acknowledgments
Whenever two people attempt to complete a history project such as this,
they by necessity draw on the work of earlier investigators and incur a good
many intellectual debts. The authors would like to acknowledge the assistance
of these individuals. The contributions of several key people allowed us to con-
duct our research and write this book. In addition to publishing a seminal 2003
article on the subject of the postbiological universe and organizing the 2005Crit-
ical Issues in the History of Spaceflightsymposium at which we first presented
our work, NASA Chief Historian Steven J. Dick made available the extensive re-
sources of the NASA History Division. For their many contributions in helping
us complete this project we wish especially to thank Dick (who edits the series at
Johns Hopkins University Press in which this book appears); archivists Jane
Odom, Colin Fries, and John Hargenrader, who helped track down information
and correct inconsistencies; Stephen J. Garber and Glen Asner, who offered valu-
able advice; and Nadine Andreassen, who served as a contact point for the whole
of NASA.
We wish to thank the staff of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and
Space Museum: the director, Gen. John R. Dailey, and deputy director, Donald
A. Lopez; Director of Collections and Research Ted A. Maxwell; and the staff
of the Division of Space History, Paul E. Ceruzzi, Martin Collins, James David,
David H. DeVorkin, Jennifer Levasseur, Cathy Lewis, Jo Ann Morgan, Valerie
Neal, Allan A. Needell, Michael J. Neufeld, Toni Thomas, Margaret Weitekamp,
Frank Winter, and Amanda Young. The museum’s archival and library staff
also assisted in numerous ways. We wish to thank the staffs of the NASA Head-
quarters Library and the Center for Aerospace Information who provided assis-
tance in locating materials; and archivists at various presidential libraries and
the National Archives and Records Administration who aided with research ef-
forts. At American University, William LeoGrande, Ivy Broder, and Neil Ker-
win made available a full-year sabbatical that allowed one of us to concentrate