# The Millennial Project > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/The_Millennial_Project > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/The_Millennial_Project.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Millennial_Project > Source revision: 1346752645 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Book by Marshall Savage The Millennial Project: Colonizing the Galaxy in Eight Easy Steps Author Marshall T. Savage Illustrator Keith Spangle Language English Subject Space Colonization Advocacy Genre Futurology Publisher Little, Brown and Company Publication date 1992 and 1994 Publication place United States Media type Print (Hardcover) Pages 508 pp ISBN 0-316-77165-1 OCLC 30319063 Dewey Decimal 629.4 20 LC Class TL795.7 .S28 1994 ***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](/source/Arthur_C._Clarke)) in the field of [exploratory engineering](/source/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](/source/Space_colonization). ## The book's thesis Savage takes a [Malthusian](/source/Malthusian) view of the [exponential growth](/source/Exponential_growth) of human [population](/source/Population_(human_biology)) and life in general, and also recommends the exponential growth of [blue-green algae](/source/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](/source/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: 1. Foundation – constitute an organization convened to realize these destinies. 1. Aquarius – build [arcologies](/source/Arcology) in the tropical [oceans](/source/Oceans) as a first step to learning how to build ("grow"[1]) colonies in space using a method not unlike that used by living [corals](/source/Coral)[2] developed by [Prof. Wolf Hartmut Hilbertz](/source/Wolf_Hilbertz) and applying his concept of Cybertecture.[3] They also would generate income to fund later steps. 1. [Bifrost](/source/Bifrost) – first step in actually getting off the [Earth](/source/Earth) using ground-based [free-electron-laser](/source/Free-electron_laser)-powered [laser-propelled](/source/Beam-powered_propulsion) [Waverider](/source/Waverider). [Leik Myrabo](/source/Leik_Myrabo), an aerospace engineering professor at [Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute](/source/Rensselaer_Polytechnic_Institute), demonstrated the feasibility of using ground-based lasers to propel objects into orbit in 1988. 1. Asgard – build a [space station](/source/Space_station) in [geosynchronous orbit](/source/Geosynchronous_orbit). 1. [Avalon](/source/Avalon) – build colonies on the [Moon](/source/Moon) by doming over the [craters](/source/Impact_crater) and creating miniature ecologies. 1. [Elysium](/source/Elysium) – start [terraforming](/source/Terraforming) [Mars](/source/Mars) to "create a living planet to sustain us" connected with Earth through [Buzz Aldrin](/source/Buzz_Aldrin)'s proposed Mars Transit System,[4] an example of [Earth-Mars cycler](/source/Mars_cycler). 1. Solaria – mine asteroids to create asteroid colonies and Asgard-like stations throughout the Solar System to create a [Dyson cloud](/source/Dyson_sphere). 1. Galactia – colonize beyond the Solar System, expand throughout the [galaxy](/source/Galaxy) heading to a level 3 on the [Kardashev scale](/source/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](/source/Spirulina_(dietary_supplement)) algae as a primary foodstuff, supplemented by seafood [mariculture](/source/Mariculture) from the cities of the Aquarius phase. The Living Universe Foundation, previously known as the First Millennial Foundation, is an [organization](/source/Organization) that supports [ocean](/source/Ocean_colonization) and [space colonization](/source/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 [OTEC](/source/Ocean_thermal_energy_conversion) construction and [space colonization](/source/Space_colonization), it touches very little on the subject of how [governments](/source/Government) and societies will need to change to enact the Project. Defenders and the author himself[5] 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](/source/Mining_the_Sky%3A_Untold_Riches_from_the_Asteroids%2C_Comets%2C_and_Planets)* by [John S. Lewis](/source/John_S._Lewis) - *[The Case For Mars](/source/The_Case_For_Mars)* by [Robert Zubrin](/source/Robert_Zubrin) - *[The High Frontier: Human Colonies in Space](/source/The_High_Frontier%3A_Human_Colonies_in_Space)* by [Gerard O'Neill](/source/Gerard_K._O'Neill) - *[Engines of Creation](/source/Engines_of_Creation)* by [K. Eric Drexler](/source/K._Eric_Drexler) - [Antimatter rocket](/source/Antimatter_rocket) - [Asteroid mining](/source/Asteroid_mining) - [Beam-powered propulsion](/source/Beam-powered_propulsion) - [Closed Ecological Life Support System](/source/Controlled_Ecological_Life_Support_System) or CELSS - [Inflatable space habitat](/source/Inflatable_space_habitat) - [In-Situ Resource Utilization](/source/In-Situ_Resource_Utilization) - [Kessler Syndrome](/source/Kessler_Syndrome) - [Lightcraft](/source/Lightcraft) - [Mass launcher](/source/Mass_driver) - [Ocean thermal energy conversion](/source/Ocean_thermal_energy_conversion) - [Project Valkyrie](/source/Project_Valkyrie) - [Biorock](/source/Biorock) - [Space geostrategy](/source/Space_geostrategy) - [Terraforming of Mars](/source/Terraforming_of_Mars) - [Prof. Wolf Hartmut Hilbertz](/source/Wolf_Hilbertz) - [Human outpost](/source/Human_outpost) ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Savage, Marshall T., The Millennial Project: Colonizing the Galaxy in Eight Easy Steps, 2nd edition, 1994, p 73 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** 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 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Hilbertz, W. H, "Toward Cybertecture",*Progressive Architecture*, May 1970 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Aldrin, Buzz, "The Mars Transit System", Air & Space, Oct/Nov 1990, pp40-47 1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Savage, Marshall T., The Millennial Project: Colonizing the Galaxy in Eight Easy Steps, 2nd edition, 1994, p 363 Authority control databases Open Library --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [The Millennial Project](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Millennial_Project) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Millennial_Project?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.