One of my several completed writing projects is a work titled Terra Nullis [1], an examination of the variety of barriers to space colonization that need to be overcome, an essay that takes about 80 pages, and includes a history of the doctrine of terra nullis, by which those who explore and settle a land were considered as having the right to exploit it however they wished under the theory that an empty land has no owner.

I09, one of the quirky fantasy sites I enjoy reading, has provided an image of a spaceship that aims to solve at least some of the problems of deep-space exploration [2].  This ship concept, titled the Nautilus X, would cost an estimated $3.7 billion over five years and would theoretically allow six astronauts to undertake missions of one month to two years.  In this particular economic and political climate, though, such a project is extremely unlikely to be funded.

Space exploration is one of those basic dreams of mankind.  To stare up at a sky full of stars, filled with admiration for the creation of the heavens, is at least in part to desire to see and understand those alien worlds so far away.  For we are tiny, short-lived beings with a longing for the infinite and the eternal within us, part of what makes our lives so tragic in that our desires are without end and our grasp is miniscule.  And human exploration of space is a very dangerous task that is also prohibitively expensive.  In this day and age, perhaps too much so to be done, maybe even contemplated.

Nonetheless, the realm of dreams is not the realm of cold and rational calculations, and there are plenty of people who will dream of the stars even as the world seems as if is falling apart at the seams around us.  Part of the wonder of human existence is the ability to dream and envision grand and amazing things even when reality is so unpleasant and unsavory.  Such gifts were not given for no reason, and perhaps someday we may find a good use for such vision, even if it seems so sadly inappropriate here and now.  One had better hope that NASA’s critics have not seen the goals and plans of these two engineers, Mark Holderman and Edward Henderson, because few things infuriate bean counters more than crazy visions of the stars, even if many of us are far more sympathetic to such dreams, as impractical as they may be.

[1] http://www.amazon.com/Terra-Nullis-Nathan-Albright-ebook/dp/B00LLYU7E8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1404881076&sr=8-1&keywords=nathan+albright

[2] http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/8/2011/02/oonautilus2.jpg?utm_source=io9+Newsletter&utm_campaign=e24f347b84-UA-142218-29&utm_medium=email