The Millennial Project

{{Short description|Book by Marshall Savage}} {{Infobox book |  | name = The Millennial Project: Colonizing the Galaxy in Eight Easy Steps | title_orig = | translator = | image = The Millennial Project - bookcover.jpg | caption = | author = Marshall T. Savage | illustrator = Keith Spangle | cover_artist = | country = [[United States]] | language = [[English language|English]] | series = | subject = Space Colonization Advocacy | genre = [[Futurology]] | publisher = [[Little, Brown and Company]] | pub_date = [[1992 in literature|1992]] and [[1994 in literature|1994]] | english_pub_date = | media_type = Print ([[Hardcover]]) | pages = 508 pp  | isbn = 0-316-77165-1  | dewey= 629.4 20 | congress= TL795.7 .S28 1994 | oclc= 30319063 | preceded_by = | followed_by = }}

'''''The Millennial Project: Colonizing the Galaxy in Eight Easy Steps''''' by Marshall T. Savage is a book (published in 1992 and reprinted in 1994 with an introduction by [[Arthur C. Clarke]]) in the field of [[exploratory engineering]] that gives a series of concrete stages the author believes will lead to interstellar colonization. Many specific scientific and engineering details are presented, as are numerous issues involved in [[space colonization]].

==The book's thesis== Savage takes a [[Malthusian]] view of the [[exponential growth]] of human [[Population (human biology)|population]] and life in general, and also recommends the exponential growth of [[blue-green algae]] for sustenance. He states that it is humanity's destiny to colonize every star in the galaxy. He draws heavily on the [[Fermi paradox]] (briefly stated as, "If there is intelligent life in space, why haven't we found it yet?") to support his position that it is humanity's burden alone to ignite the universe with the "spark of Life." In ''The Millennial Project'', he calls for the creation of an international foundation to realize these goals. Originally known as the ''First Millennial Foundation'' (founded by Savage in 1987), the organization changed its name to the Living Universe Foundation.

==The steps of the project== The "Eight Easy Steps" proposed by Savage are as follows: # Foundation{{spaced ndash}}constitute an organization convened to realize these destinies. # Aquarius{{spaced ndash}}build [[Arcology|arcologies]] in the tropical [[oceans]] as a first step to learning how to build ("grow"<ref>Savage, Marshall T., The Millennial Project: Colonizing the Galaxy in Eight Easy Steps, 2nd edition, 1994, p 73</ref>) colonies in space using a method not unlike that used by living [[coral]]s<ref>Hilbertz, W. H, et al., "Electrodeposition of Minerals in Sea Water: Experiments and Applications", ''IEEE, Journal of Oceanic Engineering'', Vol. 4, No. 3, pp. 94-113, July 1979</ref> developed by [[Wolf Hilbertz|Prof. Wolf Hartmut Hilbertz]] and applying his concept of Cybertecture.<ref>Hilbertz, W. H, "Toward Cybertecture",''Progressive Architecture'', May 1970</ref> They also would generate income to fund later steps. # [[Bifrost]]{{spaced ndash}}first step in actually getting off the [[Earth]] using ground-based [[Free-electron laser|free-electron-laser]]-powered [[Beam-powered propulsion|laser-propelled]] [[Waverider]]. [[Leik Myrabo]], an aerospace engineering professor at [[Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute]], demonstrated the feasibility of using ground-based lasers to propel objects into orbit in 1988. # Asgard{{spaced ndash}}build a [[space station]] in [[geosynchronous orbit]]. # [[Avalon]]{{spaced ndash}}build colonies on the [[Moon]] by doming over the [[Impact crater|crater]]s and creating miniature ecologies. # [[Elysium]]{{spaced ndash}}start [[terraforming]] [[Mars]] to "create a living planet to sustain us" connected with Earth through [[Buzz Aldrin]]'s proposed Mars Transit System,<ref>Aldrin, Buzz, "The Mars Transit System", Air & Space, Oct/Nov 1990, pp40-47</ref> an example of [[Mars cycler|Earth-Mars cycler]]. # Solaria{{spaced ndash}}mine asteroids to create asteroid colonies and Asgard-like stations throughout the Solar System to create a [[Dyson sphere|Dyson cloud]]. # Galactia{{spaced ndash}}colonize beyond the Solar System, expand throughout the [[galaxy]] heading to a level 3 on the [[Kardashev scale]], a method of measuring a civilization's level of energy production and consumption. In the early stages of the Project, Savage recommends [[Spirulina (dietary supplement)|Spirulina]] algae as a primary foodstuff, supplemented by seafood [[mariculture]] from the cities of the Aquarius phase.

The Living Universe Foundation, previously known as the First Millennial Foundation, is an [[organization]] that supports [[Ocean colonization|ocean]] and [[space colonization]] more or less based upon the book ''The Millennial Project''. Space Environments Ecovillage in Bastrop, Texas, is one of the few LUF projects that have materialized so far.

==Criticisms== The book has drawn some criticism in that while it is replete with details concerning [[Ocean thermal energy conversion|OTEC]] construction and [[space colonization]], it touches very little on the subject of how [[government]]s and societies will need to change to enact the Project. Defenders and the author himself<ref>Savage, Marshall T., The Millennial Project: Colonizing the Galaxy in Eight Easy Steps, 2nd edition, 1994, p 363</ref> maintain that one man writing one book cannot be expected to write out the entire course of human development over the next millennium.

==See also== *''[[Mining the Sky: Untold Riches from the Asteroids, Comets, and Planets|Mining the Sky]]'' by [[John S. Lewis]] *''[[The Case For Mars]]'' by [[Robert Zubrin]] *''[[The High Frontier: Human Colonies in Space]]'' by [[Gerard K. O'Neill|Gerard O'Neill]] *''[[Engines of Creation]]'' by [[K. Eric Drexler]] *[[Antimatter rocket]] *[[Asteroid mining]] *[[Beam-powered propulsion]] *[[Controlled Ecological Life Support System|Closed Ecological Life Support System]] or CELSS *[[Inflatable space habitat]] *[[In-Situ Resource Utilization]] *[[Kessler Syndrome]] *[[Lightcraft]] *[[Mass driver|Mass launcher]] *[[Ocean thermal energy conversion]] *[[Project Valkyrie]] *[[Biorock]] *[[Space geostrategy]] *[[Terraforming of Mars]] *[[Wolf Hilbertz|Prof. Wolf Hartmut Hilbertz]] *[[Human outpost]]

== References ==

{{DEFAULTSORT:Millennial Project, The}} [[Category:Extraterrestrial life]] [[Category:Fictional technology]] [[Category:Futurology books]] [[Category:Science books]] [[Category:Space colonization]] [[Category:Space colonization literature]] [[Category:Colonization of Mars]] [[Category:Fiction about terraforming]] [[Category:Asteroid mining]]