= ASTRONAUTICAL EVOLUTION =

All items are by Stephen Ashworth, unless attributed to another named contributor.

List complete to November 2019.

2019:

• Issue 150, 1 November 2019
     The Destiny of Civilisations – A Problem for SETI
• Issue 149, 1 October 2019
     The Holy Grail of Space
• Issue 148, 1 August 2019
     Return to the Moon, 50 Years On
• Issue 147, 8 June 2019
     The Case for Interstellar Flight
• Issue 146, 12 April 2019
     SpaceX Dragon 2 Success
• Issue 145, 1 February 2019
     Killing the Doomsday Fallacy

2018:

• Issue 144, 30 December 2018
     How Far Can We Take the Copernican Principle?
• Issue 143, 1 November 2018
     Dawkins and the McGraths: a Biologist versus two Theologians
• Issue 142, 1 October 2018
     The Atheism Question
• Issue 141, 2 September 2018
     The Religion Question
• Issue 140, 7 June 2018
     I, Starship

2017:

• Issue 139, 30 November 2017
     Scenario Block Diagram Analysis of the Galactic Evolution of Life
• Issue 138, 5 October 2017
     Comments to Elon Musk’s “Great Martian”, by Alex Tolley
• Issue 137, 1 October 2017
     Elon Musk’s “Great Martian”
• Issue 136, 29 September 2017
     Elon Musk’s Mars Plans: Highlights from His Second Iteration
• Issue 135, 14 August 2017
     What is a Supercivilisation?
• Issue 134, 17 July 2017
     Quantifying the Assumptions Behind the METI Debate
• Issue 133, 1 June and 14 August 2017
     Five Principles of a Sustainable Manned Mars Programme
• Issue 132, 20 May 2017
     Pale Red Dot: Mars comes to Oxford

2016:

• Issue 131, 2 October 2016
     Elon Musk and Mars: Looking for a Snowball Effect
• Issue 130, 19 September 2016
     The Citizens’ Debate on Space for Europe
• Issue 129, 1 August 2016
     Creating a Self-Sustaining Desert Civilisation: Aridopolis
• Issue 128, 21 July 2016
     Lecture by Professor Wörner: United Space in Europe
• Issue 127, 1 July 2016
     Brexit! Thoughts on the UK Referendum Result
• Issue 126, 1 June 2016
     The Pillar versus the Pyramid
• Issue 125, 1 May 2016
     The Way Forward
• Issue 124, 12 April 2016
     Manned Spaceflight Statistics
• Issue 123, 14 March 2016
     When Will Jan Wörner Get His Moon Village?
• Issue 122, 16 January 2016
     Interstellar Travel and Straw Men
• Issue 121, 1 January 2016
     A Strategic Goal for Humanity on Earth and in Space in 2061

2015:

• Issue 120 (cont.), 10 December 2015
     Comments to Britain Takes the Wrong Approach to Manned Spaceflight
• Issue 120, 10 December 2015
     Britain Takes the Wrong Approach to Manned Spaceflight
• Issue 119, 1 November 2015
     “Drowning in Process”
• Issue 118, 14 October 2015
     Does Intergalactic SETI Make Any Sense?
• Issue 117, 1 October 2015
     SETI and Sanity
• Issue 116, 1 September 2015
     SpaceX, SpaceY, SpaceZ
• Issue 115, 1 June 2015
     A Letter to Britain’s New Space Minister
• Issue 114, 14 May 2015
     Mars: 25 Years After Mars Direct – Discussion
• Issue 113 (cont.), 1 May 2015
     The Astronist Mars Strategy
• Issue 113, 1 May 2015
     Mars: Still So Distant, 25 Years After Mars Direct
• Issue 112 (cont.), 1 April 2015
     The Mariner Anniversary Calendar for Mars
• Issue 112, 1 April 2015
     Mars: An Awful – or an Awesome – Place to Live?
• Issue 111, 1 March 2015
     Should We Phone ET?
• Issue 110, 14 February 2015
     More Pluto Controversy: Centres of Gravity
• Issue 109, 1 January 2015
     The Pluto Controversy: When is a Planet not a Planet?

2014:

• Issue 108, 1 December 2014
     Future growth in space still not being taken seriously
• Issue 107, 1 November 2014
     The SpaceShipTwo Crash
• Issue 106, 1 October 2014
     To the Rt Hon Greg Clark
• Issue 105, 1 September 2014
     Exponential Growth for Another Thousand Years
• Issue 104, 3 August 2014
     Down with the Fermi “Paradox”!
• Issue 103, 1 July 2014
     The Great Space Debate: Discussion and Vote
• Issue 102, 1 May 2014
     The Great Space Debate: What Should Be the Strategic Goal for Astronautics over the Next 25 Years?
• Issue 101, 1 April 2014
     A Four-Point Plan for ESA
• Issue 100, 1 March 2014
     Britain’s Major Tim defends the ISS against its critics
• Issue 99, 26 January 2014
     Neubrandenburg Thoughts (II): Space for Peace
• Issue 98, 25 January 2014
     Creating a Future with Skylon

2013:

• Issue 97, 25 November 2013
     Neubrandenburg Thoughts (I): OldSpace versus NewSpace
• Issue 96, 1 November 2013
     Highlights from the Starship Century Symposium in London
• Issue 95, 1 October 2013
     Alien Civilisations: Two Competing Models
• Issue 94, 1 September 2013
     Elysium, Earth; Elysium, Mars
• Issue 93, 1 August 2013
     The Futures We Love to Fear (E.M. Forster’s The Machine Stops and Evgeny Zamyatin’s We)
• Issue 92, 1 May 2013
     Do I Really Exist? (Review of Jostein Gaarder, Sophie’s World)
        Addendum – Quotes from Sophie’s World
• Issue 91, 1 April 2013
     When will Voyager 1 leave the Solar System?
• Issue 90, 1 March 2013
     Technological Singularity, or Plateau? The case for antisingularitarianism
• Issue 89, 1 February 2013
     Space and Sustainability: Ecological Collapse versus Technological Growth
• Issue 88, 1 January 2013
     Manned spaceflight on the plateau awaits a new business model

2012:

• Issue 87, 19 December 2012
  1. Exploring Fermi’s question
  2. New novel The Moonstormers
• Issue 86, 1 October 2012
  1. Growing into an Interstellar Civilisation
  2. News: Launch of the Institute for Interstellar Studies
• Issue 85, 1 September 2012
  1. Starships and Future Scenarios
  2. Alan Bond speaks at Farnborough
  3. Rand Simberg on Neil Armstrong
• Issue 84, 1 July 2012
  1. On Certainty and the Limits to Scientific Knowledge: The Doomsday argument versus the human future
• Issue 83, 1 June 2012
  1. SpaceX: what their successful Dragon flight means, and why the critics are wrong!
  • Comments on issue 83 – Dragon versus its critics
• Issue 82, 9 May 2012
  1. Report on lecture by Alan Bond, 8 May 2012
• Issue 81, 1 May 2012
  1. Let’s colonise Venus!
  2. Progress at Reaction Engines
  3. The anti-human ideology: Bob Zubrin fights back
• Issue 80, 1 April 2012
  1. Reaching for the stars: liftoff for the Shard!
• Issue 79, 1 March 2012
  1. Manned spaceflight: growth on hold in 2011
  2. Why we must consolidate LEO before venturing further
• Issue 78, 1 February 2012
  1. Growth Options (1): The Basics of Getting into Space
• Issue 77, 1 January 2012
  1. In Search of a Unified Worldview: Bulgakov’s Master and Margarita and Clarke’s Childhood’s End
  • Comments on issue 77 – Bulgakov versus Clarke

2011:

• Issue 76, 1 December 2011
  1. The battle for the future
• Issue 75, 1 November 2011
  1. The personal satellite has arrived!
  2. Olaf Stapledon at the BIS
  3. Europe needs a strategy for astronaut spaceflight!
• Issue 74, 1 October 2011
  1. 100 Year Starship Symposium Launched in Orlando
  2. Monthly Odyssey newsletter from the BIS
• Issue 73, 4 September 2011
  1. A Development Roadmap for the Worldship
• Issue 72, 1 August 2011
  1. Tumlinson’s challenge for NewSpace
  2. Space Renaissance International calls for global Apollo holiday, Press Release by Walter Putnam
  3. Space poem celebrates Apollo 11’s 42nd anniversary
• Issue 71, 1 July 2011
  1. Dear Mr Dordain…
  2. “From Imagination to Reality”: news release by Mat Irvine
• Issue 70, 1 June 2011
  1. Society between cosmic growth and utopian dreams
  2. UK Space Conference – latest news
• Issue 69, 1 May 2011
  1. Available in any colour so long as it’s black: the Model T of space
  2. A date for your diary: the UK Space Conference and the Sir Arthur Clarke awards
  3. David Baker at the BIS: slaying the Space Age myths
  4. The BIS: getting involved online and by e-mail
  5. Cartoon of the month: can Spirit come home now?
• Issue 68, 11 April 2011
  1. Mankind in space: the next fifty years
  2. What future for intelligent life in space?
• Issue 67, 1 March 2011
  1. Does evolution progress? The multi-shell model of life shows how
• Issue 66, 1 February 2011
  1. Social software for a spacefaring civilisation
  2. Best of the blogs
  3. Space cartoon of the month
• Issue 65, 1 January 2011
  1. 2010: Manned spaceflight at the crossroads
  2. 2011: Smoke signals from two dragons

2010:

• Issue 64, 1 December 2010
  1. Towards the Sociology of the Universe?
  2. Neubrandenburg notes
• Issue 63, 1 November 2010
  1. Will humans be replaced by machines?
  2. The ISS: ten years of life in space, but a long way to reach sustainability
• Issue 62, 1 October 2010
  1. Competing visions of space in America reach compromise
  2. Competing visions of space in Europe gather pace
  3. Congratulations, Dr Alan Bond!
  4. Dr David Williams speaks at the Royal Aeronautical Society
• Issue 61, 1 September 2010
  1. The Sociology of the Universe?
  2. Announcing the Wayland starship
• Issue 60, 1 August 2010
  1. A gloomy view of progress
  2. Letter to Dr Spencer Wells
  3. Letter to Scientific American
• Issue 59, 2 June 2010
  1. Dear Mr Willetts…: a letter from Stephen Ashworth
• Issue 58, 31 May 2010
  1. NewSpace needs NewSpace Law: comment from M. V. “Coyote” Smith
  2. Call to MiniSpaceWorld Design Contest 2010, by Tibor Pacher
• Issue 57, 1 May 2010
  1. The battle for the soul of space
• Issue 56, 5 April 2010
  1. Welcome to the UK Space Agency
  2. The ISS Symposium in Berlin
• Issue 55, 1 March 2010
  1. Avatar – why I am disappointed with James Cameron’s space blockbuster
  2. Can zero-point energy take us to the stars?
  3. A vote for a Royal British Space Agency, by Robert Law
• Issue 54, 1 February 2010
  1. Ares to be scrapped, commercial space boosted
  2. What the new focus on commercial manned space means, quote from Rick Tumlinson
  3. What the new focus on commercial manned space means for Europe
  4. Rick Tumlinson’s vision of the frontier movement
• Issue 53, 3 January 2010
  1. New record year in manned spaceflight
  2. But how sustainable will it be?
  3. Two cheers for the British Space Agency!
  4. Latest on Space.co.uk

2009:

• Issue 52, 1 December 2009
  1. Solar power: can ground solar beat space solar?
  2. Comment from M. V. “Coyote” Smith
  3. Reaction Engines: let Skylon launch space solar!
  4. Space.co.uk up for auction
  5. An event for your diary next year: the UK Space Conference
  6. And finally: this month sees anniversary of Apollo 11 Moon landing…
• Issue 51, 1 November 2009
  1. Starship Icarus – son of Daedalus
  2. We need laws that encourage investing in resources beyond Earth, by Greg Anderson
  3. Time for Obama to make up his mind
  4. An event for your diary this month: Alan Bond speaks at the RAeS
  5. Book recommendation: Wyn Wachhorst, The Dream of Spaceflight, by Colin Philp
• Issue 50, 1 October 2009
  1. ESA chief gives a shocking interview
  2. An alternative view of prosperity in space, by Andy Nimmo
• Issue 49, 1 September 2009
  1. It’s official: Constellation is bankrupt!
  2. But is the heady optimism of the 1960s about to return?
• Issue 48, 1 August 2009
  1. The trouble with NASA
  2. New space blog
  3. The First Men in the Moon
• Issue 47, 1 July 2009
  1. What future for Constellation, 40 years after Eagle landed at Tranquility Base?
• Issue 46, 1 June 2009
  1. Second British national astronaut chosen!
  2. Space campaigning in the UK, by Andrew Lound
  3. Question: what will be the new direction for NASA?
• Issue 45, 6 May 2009
  1. Britain and space: Lord Drayson’s view
  2. What is the most constructive relationship between the space agency and private enterprise?
  3. Doubts about government role in space, by Dr Marco C. Bernasconi
• Issue 44, 12 April 2009
  1. The Space Renaissance Initiative, by Adriano Autino
  2. Summary of the Space Renaissance Initiative press conference, held in London on 31 March 2009, by Michael Martin-Smith
  3. The Yuri’s Foundation proposal by John J. Leonard, report by Stephen Ashworth
  4. Pamphleteering “Space: key to the future?”
• Issue 43, 1 March 2009
  1. US SPACE POLICY – from Shuttle/Station to Constellation
     FOR: Griffin defends US space policy and Moon architecture
  2. AGAINST: Why am I sceptical about US space policy?
  3. FEEDBACK: Letter on biological evolution and on the economic use of space resources, by Andy Nimmo
• Issue 42, 20 February 2009
  1. Newsflash: Skylon spaceplane project gets ESA funding
• Issue 41, 1 February 2009
  1. Darwin and progress to the stars
  2. Mars rovers pull over into the slow lane
  3. Outer planets exploration stays firmly in the slow lane
• Issue 40, 1 January 2009
  1. Slow growth in manned spaceflight in 2008
  2. On the relationship between Astronautical Evolution and Gaia Theory

2008:

• Issue 39, 6 December 2008
  1. How to build a space station?
  2. Don’t forget the Arthurs!
• Issue 38, 1 December 2008
  1. So many ways to Mars!
  2. Transport for Areopolis
• Issue 37, 1 November 2008
  1. Will there be a Space Industrial Revolution?
• Issue 36, 5 October 2008
  1. News: The Space X / Falcon 1 success on 28 September
  2. Elon Musk at the Royal Aeronautical Society
  3. Beyond Mars
  4. Resource wars and Gerard O’Neill’s space colonies – Letter from Jerry Stone
• Issue 35, 1 October 2008
  1. Can space solar power help to prevent future resource wars? – Letter from M. V. Smith
  2. More comment on population growth – from Vincent Baritsch, Stephen Ashworth and Ray Wright
• Issue 34, 1 September 2008
  1. “The real problem is human overpopulation” – Letter from Ray Wright
  2. “Carrying capacity depends on technological level” – Response from Stephen Ashworth
• Issue 33, 1 August 2008
  1. The Great Solar Power Debate continues! – (1) Comment from M. V. “Coyote” Smith
  2. The Great Solar Power Debate continues! – (2) Comment from Jerry Stone
  3. The Great Solar Power Debate continues! – (3) Comment from Michael Martin-Smith
• Issue 32, 1 July 2008
  1. The Solar Power Debate (1): Exchanges between Ray Wright and Stephen Ashworth
  2. The Solar Power Debate (2): Exchanges between Dwayne Day and Stephen Ashworth
  3. Space.co.uk newsletter
  4. The Overview Institute
  5. Breaking news: France plans revolution in space
• Issue 31, 1 June 2008
  1. Astrium proposes crude spaceship
  2. Astroelectric power: the breakthrough starts here
• Issue 30, 1 May 2008
  1. BIS Symposium: “Next Steps for Space Infrastructure”
  2. Celebrating (?) the Tunguska asteroid strike 100 years ago
  3. “Europe should give up on sending men and women into space” – Martin Rees
• Issue 29, 12 April 2008
  1. NASA’s plans for future lunar exploration
  2. How to make lunar ISRU work
  3. “Building Selenopolis” at the BIS
  4. The Sir Arthur Clarke Awards for 2008
• Issue 28, 1 March 2008
  1. “2008 is the Year of the Spaceship” – Virgin Galactic
  2. “2008 is the Year of Selenopolis” – Stephen Ashworth
  3. Thoughts on microgravity science
  4. And finally … Ministers consider UK astronauts
• Issue 27, 1 February 2008
  1. UK in space: a bold proposal to join the ISS
  2. Announcing the UK Space Conference, Charterhouse School, 27-29 March 2008
  3. A plethora of different ways to reach Mars – Bond, Parkinson and Hempsell in debate
• Issue 26, 1 January 2008
  1. Manned spaceflight in 2007: The recovery continues, slowly
  2. The Space Exploration Working Group misses the point
  3. “A New British Space Age” – report by J. Duncan Law-Green

2007:

• Issue 25, 1 November 2007
  1. The Space Exploration Working Group takes one giant leap forward for the UK … and then one giant leap back
  2. NASA to “pull out” of the ISS at the end of 2015
  3. Meeting at the British Interplanetary Society: “Three Ways to Mars”
• Issue 24, 1 October 2007
  1. 50 years on, could the UK be waking up to spaceflight? Letter from Alan Bond FBIS
  2. 50 years of development
  3. “UK must have human space role” – BBC news
  4. UK already has human space role – Virgin Galactic news
  5. Gems from the Select Committee: Colin Pillinger on attitudes to failure
  6. Gems from New Scientist: Space colonisation “has turned out to be a pipe dream”
• Issue 23, 1 September 2007
  1. Select Committee Report: 2007: A Space Policy – A resoundingly lukewarm endorsement of the UK in space
  2. Comment: Joint European Space Policy, by Jacqueline Myrrhe
  3. Select Committee revisited: the Leaked Draft Report
• Issue 22 extra, 6 July 2007
  1. Report: The Oxford debate on the UK in space
• Issue 22, 1 July 2007
  1. Review: European Space Policy – slow ahead, wait for others to lead the way
  2. Europe In Space Poll: “Should Europe have its own independent manned spaceflight programme?”
  3. Letter to New Scientist: A scientific account of consciousness is emerging
• Issue 21, 1 June 2007
  1. News: New European space forum
  2. Comment: Farewell, Tony Blair – almost Britain’s greatest space supporter
  3. Review: UK prime ministerial online petition system
  4. Review: Michael Griffin’s next 50 years in space
• Issue 20, 1 May 2007
  1. Essay: Space: the incorruptible realm
  2. Notice: Michael Griffin’s view of the next 50 years
  3. Essay: Astronautics and consciousness
• Issue 19, 1 April 2007
  1. Book now! – BROHP 2007: “Space Really Matters”
  2. Book, new! – Professor Dawkins versus God
• Issue 18, 1 March 2007
  1. Open letter to Professor Timothy Garton Ash
  2. RocketMania! for kids, by Jon London
  3. Astronauts at the Edinburgh ESA exploration workshop
• Issue 17, 1 February 2007
  1. Report: The ESA Exploration Workshop at Edinburgh
  2. Analysis: Suborbital to orbital needs a giant leap after all
  3. Forthcoming public lectures by Jerry Stone FBIS
• Issue 16, 1 January 2007
  1. Spaceflight in 2006: A modest recovery
  2. Analysis: Stepping up from suborbital to orbital commercial spaceflight
  3. Report: The 2006 BIS-BNSC space tourism conference

2006:

• Issue 15, 4 December 2006
  1. Breaking news: Britain looks at a flight to the Moon
  2. Reminder: Don’t forget to vote for the Arthurs
• Issue 14, 1 December 2006
  1. News: Writing letters to the editor pays off!
  2. UK in space: Forthcoming polemic in Spaceflight magazine
  3. UK in space: To the editor of The Telegraph, by Malcolm Smith FBIS
  4. The UFO debate: What you see depends on where you stand, not where you look, by Malcolm Smith FBIS
  5. The UFO debate: What IS it with the UFO phenomenon?
• Issue 13, 1 November 2006
  1. Question: Has a new Moon race begun?
  2. Comment: Doloj Kliper! (Down with Clipper!)
  3. News: Editor of Prospect magazine denies any alternative to religion
  4. News: David Williams speaks at the Royal Aeronautical Society
• Issue 12, 4 October 2006
  1. Letter: The Space Elevator option, by Andy Nimmo
  2. Quotes from: Anousheh Ansari’s Space Blog
• Issue 11, 1 September 2006
  1. Debate: What direction for UK space policy?
  2. Debate: UK space policy – Let’s inspire the younger generation!, by Simon Evetts
  3. Debate: UK space policy – Analysis of the options, by Stephen Ashworth
  4. Art exhibition: “The Starry Messenger” – Space art at Compton Verney
• Issue 10, 1 August 2006
  1. Controversy: What shall we do with the Space Development Council?
  2. News: UK science funding to be reorganised
  3. Clarification: “HSE” a well established acronym
• Issue 9, 1 July 2006
  1. News: Lembit Öpik MP speaks at the BIS
  2. Celebration: International Space Day proposed for Apollo anniversary
• Issue 8, 1 June 2006
  1. Essay: Religion and the astronautical viewpoint
  2. Letter: from Jim Trounson
  3. Essay: Are we alone in the Galaxy?, by Mike Combs (Extract)
  4. News: Debate on the UK in space at the BIS
• Issue 7, 1 May 2006
  1. News: Presentation at the Oxford Union
  2. Talk: Are we alone in the universe? (Extract)
  3. Invitation: Space and religion / space versus religion
• Issue 6, 1 April 2006
  1. Debate: The Scientific American cosmic ray debate
  2. Analysis: Europe’s Martian Dream
  3. News: Euro-Mars habitat arrives in the UK
  4. Correction: The two Clarke awards
• Issue 5, 1 March 2006
  1. Essay: Exploration is good; political and economic relevance is better
  2. News: BROHP 2006: the place to be this April
• Issue 4, 1 February 2006
  1. Tom Harris and Charles Laughlin on why robots are not enough: people want to travel in space in person
  2. The space index measures human activity in space since 1961
  3. Royal Aeronautical Society launches its own study of UK policy on manned spaceflight
• Issue 3, 1 January 2006
  • Astronautical Evolution in 2006
  • BIS one-day space tourism symposium
  • On NASA’s plans to return to the Moon
  • Europe’s Martian Dream / Europe’s Footprint on Mars

2005:

• Issue 2, 17 October 2005
  • Virgin moves closer to first-time experience
  • Forthcoming anniversaries
  • Europe’s Martian Dream
• Issue 1, 19 July 2005
  • Astronautical Evolution – One small step closer to reality [re the Technology, Entertainment and Design (TED) conference in Oxford]
  • One small step… [re the quibble over Neil Armstrong’s words as he stepped onto the lunar surface]
  • Sixtieth anniversary of Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings