Analog SFF, May 2011

by Dell Magazine Authors

  A summary of some of the psychological and interpersonal issues related to traveling to the outer solar system is given in Table 1.[6]

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  Table 1.

  Psychosocial Issues Related to Travel to the Outer Solar System

  1. Selection: Who would want to be away from family members and friends for years to decades?

  2. Extreme feelings of isolation and loneliness.

  3. Lack of support from Earth due to the extreme distance and communication delays.

  4. “Earth-out-of-view” phenomenon.

  5. Filling leisure time over the years.

  6. Lack of diversity and novelty in social contacts.

  7. Increased risk of medical and psychiatric illness due to time away from home.

  8. Unknown physiological and psychological effects of radiation at relativistic speeds.

  9. Unknown physiological and psychological effects due to suspended animation technology.

  10. Anxiety over trusting machines to maintain your life and revive you from suspended animation.

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  Interstellar Travel

  Relativistic speeds and suspended animation would also apply to interstellar travel, but the distances are orders of magnitude greater than travel to the outer solar system. The nearest stars to our sun are Proxima Centauri, which is 4.2 light-years away, and Alpha Centauri A and B, located 4.4 light-years away. One light-year equals approximately 9.46 trillion kilometers, so the Alpha Centauri system is over 7,000 times farther away from the Earth than Pluto. Obviously, novel propulsion systems such as those mentioned above would be necessary, but even at a constant 5% of the speed of light, it would take 88 years to reach Alpha Centauri. This would be longer than the expected lifetimes of the crewmembers. Bracewell[7] has devised a scenario where a round trip to Proxima Centauri could be made in 11 years, assuming a physiologically-acceptable gradual acceleration to .99 the speed of light by the end of the first year, followed by a three and a half year coast in deep space, then a one year deceleration to the star (with a similar scenario for the return). However, traveling at near-light speed presents difficult technological problems that still need to be resolved. (Faster-than-light speeds or travel through wormholes are interesting ideas that currently belong more to science fiction than to science fact, so they will not be considered here).

  Another scenario has been advocated for an interstellar expedition, and that is the use of giant self-contained generation ships that would be full of people who would plan to colonize space rather than return to Earth. This scenario assumes that planets will be found that could support human life once the colony ship arrives at a distant star system. Strong[8] has written about 100-megaton starships populated by up to 150 people engaged on a century-long journey to the stars. Woodcock[9] has described a scenario involving a one-million-metric-ton starship accommodating 10,000 people that measures 11 football fields in length. Accelerating to 15% of the speed of light by the halfway point, then decelerating as it approaches its stellar target some 10 light-years away from Earth, this behemoth would complete its journey in about 130 years.

  The psychological and interpersonal ramifications of a permanent divorce from Earth would impact greatly on the starship crewmembers. The effects on the first generation would be profound, since they would vividly remember their home planet, having left family members and friends behind. In a sense, some of these feelings would parallel those experienced by immigrants to the United States and other countries who left the “old country” behind. However, for these immigrants, there usually was a possibility of going back to their countries of origin for a visit during their lifetime, whereas this would be impossible for participants in an expedition to a distant star system. Subsequent generations would be less affected, since their reference point would be the generation ship. Nevertheless, images and stories of the Earth would be preserved and become the subject of future wistful mythology over time. The selection of the initial crewmembers would also be an issue. Who would be selected? How many family members would be allowed to come along? How much cultural and religious diversity would be permitted? Would there be one common language, and if so, which one? How would a diverse enough gene pool be assured to minimize the appearance of dangerous recessives and maximize the stability of future generations? What kind of social structure would be best, given the limited size and resources of the star ship?

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  Table 2.

  Additional Psychosocial Issues Related to Interstellar Travel

  1. Selection: Who and how many family members could go given the limited resources?

  2. How much diversity (e.g., language, cultural factors, religion) would be tolerated or be seen as beneficial by the starship population?

  3. Feelings of homesickness, especially for people in the first generation who once lived on Earth.

  4. Psychological and ethical effects of social engineering (e.g., regulating coupling and birth rate).

  5. Keeping the social contract—rebellion by later generations who don't agree with

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  Moore[4] has studied some of the ethical and demographic issues concerning a crew of 150-180 people participating in a 200-year expedition to Alpha Centauri. Based on his computer modeling methodology, which attempted to establish a stable population that could be productive and live within the physical and supply constraints of the star ship, he has suggested several social engineering principles, such as starting the mission with a crew of young, childless married couples and requiring them to postpone parenthood until late in the women's reproductive life, say in her mid-30s. This would result in small sibships and help to maintain genetic variation by lengthening the generations. Over time, three well-defined demographic echelons would result that would be some 30 years apart, each consisting of roughly one-third of the total population. Within each echelon, the members would be just a few years apart in age. The middle adult group would perform most of the tasks needed to support the community, and as they aged they would become senior statesmen and take over some of the teaching and child care for the youngest echelon. In this way, resources would be distributed equally over time, without too many old or young people to disrupt the social network and non-productively use up the fixed resources.

  But how will the participants in such a mission accept such social engineering? Will later generations view these echelons as a normal part of life, or will they rebel? Will there be unforeseen consequences that could threaten the starship population during their expedition? For example, how would they accommodate a group of rebellious teenagers who rejected the mission and wanted to go back to Earth, or who liked traveling in space and did not want to land on any planet? How would the community deal with a life-threatening disease or a subgroup of gang members that could harm or kill a large segment of the population? Where would criminals or mentally ill individuals be housed in such a confined environment, and who would watch them? Anticipatory planning for dealing with issues such as these must be made prior to departure, and the on-board leadership needs to be continually mindful of the impact of unanticipated psychological and sociological events on the stability of the social system.

  In addition to points 1-11 from Table 1, some additional psychological and interpersonal issues related to interstellar travel are summarized in Table 2.[6]

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  Conclusions

  Many of the psychosocial factors discussed above can be ameliorated by pre-launch psychological, interpersonal, multicultural, and team-building training and preparation. Other issues will have to be addressed during the mission itself. All crewmembers will need to be sensitized to recognize and deal with untoward events as they arise, since the link to supportive individuals on the distant Earth will be tenuous or non-existent.

  It is not too early to study the effects of these factors on space crews, perhaps using the International Space Station as a research analog for the microgravity outbound phase of a long-d
istance mission and our Moon's surface to study activities related to working on a partial-gravity planetary surface. As we extend farther away into space, expeditions to other exotic bodies such as near-Earth asteroids, the outer planets and their moons, and even members of the Oort cloud, will enhance our experiences in preparing for interstellar travel and landing on planets around other stars. In this way, countermeasures can be developed and tested that will allow future starship crews to function independently as we venture forth into the cosmos.

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  Acknowledgements

  All ideas, results, and conclusions that are mentioned in this review are the responsibility of the author and are not necessarily endorsed by NASA or any other space agency.

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  About the Author:

  Dr. Kanas is a Professor of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco. He has been a NASA-funded research Principal Investigator, and for nearly forty years he has written about psychosocial issues affecting humans in space. He also is an amateur astronomer, an avid science fiction reader, and a collector of antiquarian celestial maps. He has over 200 publications, including (with Dietrich Manzey) Space Psychology and Psychiatry (which won the 2004 International Academy of Astronautics Life Sciences Book Award and is now in its 2nd Edition); Star Maps: History, Artistry, and Cartography; and articles in professional journals and in magazines such as Sky and Telescope, Mercury, Imago Mundi, the Journal of the International Map Collectors’ Society, and Analog Science Fiction and Fact.

  Copyright © 2011Nick Kana, M.D.

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  Footnotes

  [1 For a more general discussion of psychosocial issues in space, see Space Psychology and Psychiatry, 2nd Edition, Nick Kanas and Dietrich Manzey, Microcosm Press, El Segundo, CA, and Springer, Dordrecht, the Netherlands, 2008.]

  [2 The distance of an outer planet from the Earth depends on where the two planets are located in their orbits. When the Earth is at inferior conjunction with respect to a more distant planet (i.e., lined up on the same side of the Sun), it averages 299 million kilometers closer than when it is at superior conjunction (i.e., lined up but on the opposite side of the Sun). The midpoint between these two locations is roughly at the Sun's position in space. Therefore, the Earth's average distance from an outer planet is the same as that planet's average distance from the Sun. This assumes that all planetary orbits are circular, which is not exactly the case, but a reasonable approximation to use for comparative distance purposes.]

  [3 Since verbal communications in space are transmitted at nearly the speed of light (299,792 km/sec), the number of seconds it takes for a question asked by an astronaut located near or on an outer planet to be heard by someone on Earth is calculated by taking the average distance of this planet from the Earth (or the Sun—see note 2) and dividing it by 299,792. Obviously, the two-way communication time would be double]

  [4 See his chapter in the book Interstellar Travel and Multi-Generation Space Ships, edited by Yoji Kondo, Frederick Bruhweiler, John Moore, and Charles Sheffield, Apogee Books, Burlington, Ontario, Canada, 2003. This wonderful book is based on an American Association for the Advancement of Science symposium of the same name held in Boston on February 15, 2002, and it contains chapters ranging from scientific and engineering aspects of interstellar travel to the anthropological, genetic and linguistic aspects affecting people populating multigenerational starships.]

  [5 Semyonov, O.G. “Radiation hazard of relativistic interstellar flight.” Acta Astronautica, 64, 644-653, 2009.]

  [6 Adapted from: Kanas, N. “From Earth's orbit to the outer planets and beyond: psychological issues in space.” Acta Astronautica, in press.]

  [7 Bracewell, R.N. The Galactic Club: Intelligent Life in Outer Space. San Francisco Book Company, San Francisco, California, 1976.]

  [8 Strong, J. Flight to the Stars. Hart Publishing Company, New York, 1965.]

  [9 Woodcock, G.R. “To the stars!” In: Schmidt, S. and Zubrin, R., ed. Islands in the Sky: Bold New Ideas for Colonizing Space. John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1996.]

  [Back to Table of Contents]

  Short Story: BOUMEE AND THE APES by Ian McHugh

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  Illustrated by Mark Evans

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  Some choices don't offer second chances. . . .

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  Boumee plucked a yellow marula fruit from the tree, dropping it into the bark carrying dish on the ground at his feet, then looked about for Ush.

  His little sister was supposed to be helping pick fruit. Being only five, she'd quickly lost interest. He spied her a short distance away, poking a termite mound with a stick.

  Boumee tore a branch from the tree to use as a switch. Ush, engrossed in tormenting the termites, was completely oblivious to her brother's approach until he swatted her across the rump.

  "Lions will get you!"

  Ush squealed. “Tum!"

  Boumee shook the leafy end of his switch at her face. “My name is Boumee,” he bellowed, pretending outrage. “Not Tum, anymore. I am not a baby like you."

  Ush grabbed the switch and tried to wrench it from his grasp. Boumee let her have it and skipped away. Ush pursued. “Just because you have a grown-up name does not mean you can hit me!"

  Dodging her attempts to hit him back, he trod in his carrying dish. Fire-hardened wood cracked, fruit squashed. Ush trumpeted her amusement in spite of herself.

  Boumee felt a shivery tingling up his legs. He stopped abruptly. With a cry of triumph, Ush whacked him on the bridge of his trunk. Boumee ignored her, listening intently.

  Ush hit him again. “Boumee, play!"

  "Be still,” he said, catching her trunk.

  She struggled to get free, squealing in protest.

  "Be still. I hear a call."

  Ush stopped and listened too. Boumee heard the cry again, an urgent blare with a deep undercurrent that tickled the soles of his feet. It was coming from the opposite direction to where the clan was camped beside the river.

  "A call for help,” Boumee said. “Run to the camp,” he told her.

  "Not on my own!” she wailed.

  He butted her in the ribs. “Run!"

  Ush fled, trumpeting shrilly. The distress cry came again. It sounded even more plaintive than before, like the wail of a lost calf, although it was made by an adult voice. As if the person who made it was under attack. But what could attack a grown person? Perhaps they had injured themselves in an accident, Boumee thought, and been found by lions or hyenas.

  He cast about for a weapon, and picked up a heavy fallen branch for a club.

  Boumee charged down a lightly wooded slope, heedless of how much noise he made. There was a large waterhole at the bottom, he knew. Someone must have made their camp there. The cry came again, but feebly. Boumee trumpeted a reply, hoping to frighten off the predators.

  He glimpsed the gray bulk of a person through the trees. They were under attack, but not by lions. Lean, vertical creatures pranced around the fallen person, chattering and shrieking in excitement. Apes? wondered Boumee.

  He didn't stop to ponder further. Some of the apes, having heard his cry, had gathered to face his charge. They carried long, straight sticks in their hands. He saw their flat monkey faces contort in fear as they began to scatter.

  Boumee crashed through them, skittling bodies with his club. He caught one on his tusks and crushed it with the underside of his trunk. Something sharp pierced his side. An ape retreated, Boumee's blood on the end of its weapon. Boumee bashed the creature so hard he snapped his club.

  More stabs assailed his hindquarters. Boumee screamed, dropping the remains of his club. His back legs crumpled. If he fell, he was dead. With a bellow, he pushed himself back up and whirled about. He caught one of the attackers by the head and used it to lash at the others, until its body came free of its neck and lobbed gracelessly into the waterhole with a resounding splash. Boumee flung the head after its companions.

  The
remaining apes regrouped a short distance away. One howled at him and beat its forepaw against its ribs.

  Boumee's hind legs shook uncontrollably. He thought he might not fight them off a second time. A dry dead tree stood between him and them. Trumpeting in pain, he lowered his head and charged. Boumee crashed into the tree, then stood with ears flared and knocked half silly in an expanding cloud of splinters and dust as the apes fled.

  His back end almost collapsed again. Shaking, Boumee limped back to the apes’ fallen victim.

  "Mahouh,” he said, recognizing him. Mahouh was a bull a few years older than Boumee, who'd been traveling with Boumee's clan. Great-nonna Eyeyo had chased him away a few days before, having run out of patience with his poor manners.

  Blood ran from numerous stab wounds in Mahouh's legs and belly. His trunk twitched, cut in several places, and there was a ragged puncture in his throat, that sucked and bubbled when he breathed. Mahouh shifted his head, eyes searching. “Little Tum?"

  Boumee gripped Mahouh's injured trunk gently with his own. “Boumee,” he said. “They are gone."

  His mind was spinning—what kind of apes were these, to hunt like lions? No, not even like lions, because even lions did not attack healthy, grown people.

  "They surprised me,” Mahouh murmured. His voice rattled. “Singing to myself. I heard their chatter, paid it no mind."

  And what person would give heed to the chatter of apes? What grown bull, even camped alone, would consider his safety at risk, even did he share a waterhole with lions?

  A movement caught Boumee's eye. One of the apes had been left behind alive. It dragged itself painfully across the dirt, one leg clearly broken. A rumble rose in Boumee's chest. He released Mahouh's trunk and hobbled after the crawling ape.

  With his trunk, he flipped it onto its back. It grunted, raising its forelimbs in futile defense as Boumee lifted a foot to stamp out its life. The rumbling in his chest grew to a bellow.