Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

The End of Astronauts – Why Robots Are the Future of Exploration by Donald Goldsmith and Martin Rees; The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press (April 2022); 192 pages; Hardcover: $25.95

My guess is that the reader will either hate or love this book! However, the authors provide a provoking argument for space exploration sans astronauts.

Just a few pages into the book, in an introduction, there’s this forewarning: “Readers who disagree with the conclusions in this book will, we hope, enjoy considering which arguments carry more weight than others.”

That said, this volume is a tour de force of well-written, compelling rationales. The authors believe that beyond low-Earth orbit, space exploration should proceed without humans.

The book is divided into 9 chapters: Why Explore?, Organizing Space,  Near-Earth Orbit, The Moon,  Mars, Asteroids, Space Colonization, The Global Costs of Space Exploration, and Space Law. So pick your favorite destination/topic and brace yourself.

An epilogue covers perspectives on space exploration in 2040—and far beyond, followed by an appendix of key events in space exploration, as well as notes and a further reading section.

The United Kingdom’s Astronomer Royal, Martin Rees, was previously Professor of Astronomy and Director of the Institute of Astronomy at the University of Cambridge.

Well-regarded science writer, Donald Goldsmith, has written more than a dozen books, including Exoplanets, The Runaway Universe, The Hunt for Life on Mars, Supernova, and, with Neil deGrasse Tyson, Origins.

At its core, the book notes that human journeys into space fill us with wonder. But the thrill of space travel for astronauts comes at enormous expense and is fraught with peril. More to the point, as surrogate automatons become increasingly competent, this question becomes more potent: does our desire to send astronauts to the Moon and Mars justify the cost and danger?

Goldsmith and Rees weigh the benefits and risks of human exploration across the solar system. In space, humans require air, food, and water, along with protection from potentially deadly radiation and high-energy particles.

And all that comes at a cost more than ten times that of robotic exploration.

Automated explorers have shown the ability to investigate planetary surfaces efficiently and effectively, operating autonomously or under direction from Earth. They note that the performance of robots and AI is progressively improving – while our bodies do not.

The reader will find much to ponder in this book, chock-full of up-to-date observations and eye-opener viewpoints. Sure, some of you will have a “bone to pick” about the need for human space travel…others will see the “nuts and bolts” of how space exploration will be done in the future.

For more information on this book, go to:

https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674257726

Additionally, give a listen to an Irish radio program – Futureproof – to hear Goldsmith and Rees explain why twenty-first-century human spaceflight may not be in the cards. Go to:

https://www.newstalk.com/podcasts/futureproof-with-jonathan-mccrea/the-end-of-the-age-of-astonauts

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