A city on Mars : can we settle space, should we settle space, and have we really thought this through?

Book 2023

In a world hurtling toward human expansion into space, 'A City on Mars' investigates whether the dream of new worlds won't create nightmares, both for settlers and the people they leave behind. In the process, Kelly and Zach Weinersmith answer every question about space you've ever wondered about, and many you've never considered. Can you make babies in space? Should corporations govern space settlements? What about space war? Are we headed for a...

Item Details & Discovery

Explore Topics & Themes:

Extraterrestrial anthropology

Interplanetary voyages

Life on other planets

Outer space Exploration

Space colonies

More in this Genre:

Humor

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ISBN:

9781984881724
1984881728

Description:

436 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index

Contents:

Introduction: a homesteader's guide to the red planet?
A preamble on space myths
Part I. Caring for the spacefaring
Suffocation, bone loss, and flying pigs: the science of space physiology
Space sex and consequences thereof
Spacefarer psychology: in which the only thing we're sure of is that astronauts are liars
Nota bene: rocketry goes to the movies, or, space capitalism in days of yore, Part 1
Part II. Spome, spome on the range: where will humans live off-world?
The moon: great location, bit of a fixer-upper
Mars: landscapes of poison and toxic skies, but what an opportunity!
Giant rotating space wheels: not literally the worst option
Worse options
Nota bene: space is the place for product placement, or, space capitalism in days of yore, Part 2
Part III. Pocket edens: how to create a human terrarium that isn't all that terrible
Outputs and inputs: poop, food, and "closing the loop"
There's no place like spome: how to build outer-space habitats
Nota bene: the mystery of the tampon bandolier
Part IV. Space law for space settlements: weird, vague, and hard to change
A cynical history of space
The outer space treaty: great for regulating space sixty years ago
Murder in space: who killed the moon agreement?
Nota bene: space cannibalism from a legal and culinary perspective
Part V. The paths forward: bound for moonsylvania?
Commonsing the cosmos
Dividing the sky
The birth of space-states: like the birth of space babies, but messier
Nota bene: violence in Antarctica, or, happy endings to stabby starts
Part VI. To plan B or not to plan B: space society, expansion, and existential risk
There's no labor pool on Mars: outer space as a company town
How big is big? Plan B settlements without genetic or economic calamities
Space politics by other means: on the possibility of space war
A brief coda on a rarely considered alternative: wait-and-go-nowhere
Nota bene: amusing astronaut names and the Soviet tendency to fuss over weird details
Conclusion: of hot tubs and human destiny

Control Number:

3268911

Other Authors:

Weinersmith, Zach, 1982- author, illustrator

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