Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
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Category: space

Circa 2012

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Artist’s concept of a Kardashev Type 2 civilization (credit: Chris Cold)

Lt Col Garretson — one of the USAF’s most farsighted and original thinkers — has been at the forefront of USAF strategy on the long-term future in projects such as Blue Horizons (on KurzweilAI — see video), Energy Horizons, Space Solar Power, the AF Futures Game, the USAF Strategic Environmental Assessment, and the USAF RPA Flight Plan. Now in this exclusive to KurzweilAI, he pushes the boundary of long-term thinking about humanity’s survival out to the edge … and beyond. — Ed.

The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Air Force or the U.S. government.

It isn’t enough just to plan for two or 20, or even the fabled Chinese 100 year periods. We need to be thinking and planning on the order of billions of years. Our civilization needs inter-generational plans and goals that span as far out as we can forecast significant events.

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  • Los Angeles could be getting a brand-new skyscraper that’s taller than the Wilshire Grand — the tallest tower in California.
  • The planned skyscraper is 77 stories high and features a mixture of condos, hotel rooms, and commercial space.
  • The future development represents a growing trend of supertall construction as cities compete to have the most impressive skylines.

Los Angeles has endured endless criticism for its low-lying slab buildings, flat-topped towers, and mismatched design aesthetics.

In 2013, the former architecture critic at Los Angeles magazine, Greg Goldin, lamented the city’s “dull” and “mediocre” landscape.

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LIVE: It’s Space Day at the Texas Capitol! From 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., we will be celebrating human space exploration with interactive exhibits for the public featuring NASA Astronauts, the International Space Station, the NASA Commercial Crew Program, NASA’s Orion Spacecraft, NASA JSC Education’s High School Aerospace Scholars (HAS) program, and legislative proclamations highlighting achievements in human exploration throughout Texas.

Ask your questions in the comments!

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Very few people are going to want to leave this planet permanently — it’s just too amazing.

“Ultimately what will happen, is this planet will be zoned residential and light industry,” he said. “This is the gem of the Solar System. Why would we do heavy industry here? It’s nonsense.”

Bezos also referenced the work of physicist Gerard O’Neill, who came up with the idea of a cylinder-shaped space settlement design known as an “O’Neill cylinder,” in which two counter-rotating cylinders would provide gravity for human settlers while mitigating gyroscopic effects.

Similar space colonies have been depicted in popular sci-fi movies including “2001: A Space Odyssey” (1968).

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NASA is coming again… to the Moon!

NASA has selected 12 science and technology demonstration payloads to fly to the Moon as early as the end of this year, dependent upon the availability of commercial landers. These selections represent an early step toward the agency’s long-term scientific study and human exploration of the Moon and, later, Mars.

“The Moon has unique scientific value and the potential to yield resources, such as water and oxygen,” said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. “Its proximity to Earth makes it especially valuable as a proving ground for deeper space exploration.”

NASA’s Science Mission Directorate (SMD) initiated the request for proposals leading to these selections as the first step in achieving a variety of science and technology objectives that could be met by regularly sending instruments, experiments and other small payloads to the Moon.

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