A Credo For The National Space Society Humankind is destined to evolve from an Earth-Boun

      
             A Credo For The National Space Society 
 
Humankind is destined to evolve from an Earth-Bound to a Multi- 
planet species; 
 
The 21st Century will usher in a new age of Discovery in which
the human intellect will extend terrestrial life throughout the 
Inner Solar System; 
 
Advancing technologies will facilitate economic travel beyond
Earth orbit and "Living off the Land" utilizing indigenous 
resources on the Space Frontier; 
 
The next steps in space involve establishing a "Bridge between 
Worlds" and Lunar and Martian Bases that will evolve into 
increasingly self-sufficient, high-tech communities on the
cutting edge of humanity; 
 
Technological challenges critical to 21st Century space
settlement include: economic transport between Earth and Low 
Earth Orbit, orbital space ports circling the Earth, the Moon, 
and Mars, reliable deep-space cargo and human transport (with 
cycling spaceships to Mars), robotic processing of 
extraterrestrial resources, and automated closed-ecology 
biospheres; 
 
The Space Frontier's unlimited potential eliminated Malthusian 
limits to human aspirations; 
 
All of the diverse peoples of our home planet should participate
in the upward and outward evolution of terrestrial life, but 
America should lead the exploration and settlement of the Solar 
System based on its magnificent heritage from the previous Age of

Discovery, its frontier tradition, its rich gene pool, it
technical preeminence, and its exponentially growing four 
trillion dollar economy. 
 
Vigorous new societies based in individual initiative and social
diversity will evolve above the Earth's nationalistic boundaries
and provincial disputes; 
 
Decentralized privet investment, development, and system
operation will contribute to the economic development of the 
Inner Solar System; 
 
Young people must be inspired and prepared for exciting careers
in Space Sciences, Engineering and Extraterrestrial Operations; 
 
Through these steps, plus unforeseeable breakthroughs from future
research, we will gain a new insight into the role of
intelligence in the cosmos, and our descendants will reach 
the stars. 
 
Written By Tom Paine, Santa Monica, California, 1/16/1989.