Vessel Archives (DRAFT prepared for 100YSS Symposium 09/2012)

Heath Rezabek
2012 Figshare  
Abstract: The abundance of ancient worlds detected by the Kepler Mission and others brings the persistence of the Fermi Paradox into stark relief. If an existential (sterilizing) risk to Earth emerged before an interstellar civilization were established, it could eliminate the prospects for complex life across an unknowable span of future time. In the absence of evidence of interstellar life, we must cultivate life on Earth as if the future of life in our region of the universe depended on it.
more » ... ear-term, humanity must rise to its potential. Long-term, life must find a way. In this presentation and discussion, we will propose an open project to collaboratively plan and build what we call Vessel Archives: Compact, focused habitats that foster our most sustainable methods and focus our most aspirational traces during our immediate challenges, emphasizing 100 Year Starship efforts as a milestone on our journey. Yet Vessel Archives would also serve as long-term cultural, biological, and geological archives within self-sustaining biospheres. This session's immediate goal will be an overview comprehensive enough to launch the concept into public collaboration, and many approaches from different fields will be integrated. We will explore (among other topics): the tension between curation and sampling through the lens of Benford's "Library of Life" proposal; the urgent aspiration that Vessel Archives serve as galvanizing beacons for humanity; and the enduring mission of securing the resources we would need on-site to engineer spaceworthy vessels from within isolated installations, even in the absence of signals from a global civilization. NOTE: This working paper is a draft meant for reference and to aid in further discussion with conference attendees at the 100YSS Symposium, September 13-16, 2012. It is not submission-complete. (Deadline October 31).
doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.96392 fatcat:7nhkrhfs3jemplpqo3aj7eyid4