Republic of Luna
This sequel to "Evolution's Child" is a blockbuster science fiction masterpiece. I had trouble deciding where science left off and science fiction began. I had great empathy and admiration for the Lunarians and the society they had created and intense contempt for the religious fundamentalists that tried to destroy them. -- Harold Saferstien, MD, Arizona
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Conclusion: At the turn of the century, my grandmother regularly flew in an old style atmospheric jetliner between New York and London. It would take 120,000 lbs of hydrocarbon fuel to make the 3500-mile journey, burned in only a few hours. Today that same weight of hypergolic fuel allows a magnetoplasma thruster to operate for over 200 days at maximum thrust, easily taking those same passengers to Mars and back several times over.
Very few things in the history of man’s technology have had the lasting effect of fire but Calconn may prove to be its equal in the centuries to come. There seems little doubt that the discovery of Type 3 superconductors is a turning point in the evolution of our species. Without it, we would still be limited to planet Earth, never colonized Luna or Mars, never sent our robot miners to Saturn or Jupiter. To all those living comfortably in the modern world it seems inconceivable that, but for due diligence by my grandmother on that fateful day in 2014, you may never have even been born. Many believe that without the relief the colonization of our solar system has brought, that humanity would have suffered much more at the hands of population pressure and global climate change. Perhaps human civilization would have collapsed entirely. Food wars, the loss of ecosystems, rising sea levels, and many other catastrophic events may have proven to be too much to overcome for a species limited to a single planet. It is one of life’s great ironies that a military project saved Earth from that fate, that something intended to kill, brought so much good.
Humanity’s journey to space began when our ancient ancestors first looked up in wonder at all the pretty lights in the sky. At an ever-increasing speed, our species has grown cognizant of the universe and our place within it. We conquered planets and explored the far reaches of our solar system, looked inward at the makeup of matter and outward at the incredible expanse of the cosmos, yet many citizens have the opinion we will never go further, that we must be satisfied with inhabiting just this solar system, that the distances between stars are just too great. Looking back at the history of technology, it is clear we develop the tools and skills we need only after we need them. Why should star travel be any different?
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