Where Next, Columbus?: The Future of Space Exploration

by Valerie Neal (Editor)

In the decades since the launch of Sputnik, the world has thrilled to the long-dreamed-of moon walks of the Apollo astronauts, marvelled at spectacular photographs of the outer planets brought to us by Voyager, and watched in horror as the Challenger exploded before our eyes. No longer the
terrifying realm of science fiction, space has been hailed by popular culture as the "final frontier," the focal point of future exploration. Yet today there is no strong consensus about our future in space. Where should we go next? Mars? Deep space? Should we continue to send humans into space? Is
it worth the cost to explore space at all? Now, a curator of space history at the Smithsonian, Valerie Neal, has assembled a noted group of writers and thinkers--among them Stephen Jay Gould, Carl Sagan, Timothy Ferris, Robert L. Forward, and Stephen J. Pyne--to consider such questions. The result
is an intriguing collection of essays that offer stimulating insights into the exploration of new worlds.
Boasting an oversize format and more than fifty color illustrations, this engaging volume offers readers a fascinating look at exploration's past and future. Several pieces vividly depict the actual experience of space travel and the many scientific findings made along the way. Harrison H.
Schmitt, the last astronaut to set foot on the moon, provides an often spellbinding account of that adventure, in the process making a compelling case for human rather than robotic explorers (during the examination of a boulder, Schmitt made a discovery that a mere circuit-board would have
missed--and that is to say nothing of the poetic earth-rise he describes). But robots get equal time. Edward C. Stone, Project Scientist for the Voyager missions, describes other worlds as seen from the camera-eye of a machine millions of miles the roiling storm systems on Jupiter, the
complexity of Saturn's rings, and the spectacular nitrogen geysers on Triton, one of Neptune's major satellites. Looking towards the future, Stephen Jay Gould pleads for a manned mission to Mars, one which would scour the Red Planet for signs of life (paleontologists have found fossilized bacteria
in Earth silica, Gould explains, and similar fossils on Mars may be the key to proving that life once existed there). And physicist Robert L. Forward offers detailed plans for actual starships that could send astronauts to the nearest star system in a single lifetime--and with today's technology.
Where Next, Columbus? is an utterly absorbing contribution to a debate that may help define the twenty-first century. With colorful illustrations, a spacious oversized format, and ten fascinating essays--all but one of which have never been published before--this volume will intrigue anyone
interested in space travel or our place in the universe.

240 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Dr. Valerie Neal joined the Museum as a curator in 1989 and is responsible for artifact collections from the Space Shuttle era and International Space Station, most prominently the orbiter Discovery. She led the Museum's effort to prepare shuttle test vehicle Enterprise for public display and to acquire Spacelab, SpaceShipOne, and the Manned Maneuvering Unit for the national collection. She worked closely with NASA and Museum staff to orchestrate the transfer of Discovery to the Smithsonian and the release of Enterprise back to NASA in 2012. She has curated three major exhibitions: Where Next Columbus? on the challenges of future exploration; Space Race; and Moving Beyond Earth about spaceflight in and beyond the Space Shuttle era.

Dr. Neal's publications include Discovery, Champion of the Space Shuttle Fleet (2014) and two edited books on space exploration, Spaceflight: A Smithsonian Guide (1995) and Where Next, Columbus? The Future of Space Exploration (1994). Her articles on shuttle history have appeared in History and Technology and Space Policy. She has been instrumental in the production of two Smithsonian Channel documentaries about the shuttle. Her current projects include completing a book about spaceflight in the shuttle era.

Before joining the Museum, Dr. Neal spent a decade as a writer, editor, and manager for some 25 NASA publications on shuttle and Spacelab missions, the Hubble Space Telescope and other great space observatories, the space sciences, and NASA history. She also participated in underwater astronaut-training activities and worked on the mission management support team for four shuttle missions.

She earned a Ph.D. in American studies from the University of Minnesota, following an M.A. in American studies from the University of Southern California, and a B.A. in English and history from Texas Christian University. She has taught at the University of Minnesota, the University of Alabama in Huntsville, and Vanderbilt University.