Overview

This book develops a credible scenario for interstellar exploration and colonization. In so doing, it examines: • the present situation and prospects for interstellar exploration technologies; • where to go: the search for habitable planets; • the motivations for space travel and colonization; • the financial mechanisms required to fund such enterprises. The final section of the book analyzes the uncertainties surrounding the presented scenario. The purpose of building a scenario is not only to pinpoint future events but also to highlight the uncertainties that may propel the future in different directions. Interstellar travel and colonization requires a civilization in which human beings see themselves as inhabitants of a single planet and in which global governance of these processes is conducted on a cooperative basis. The key question is, then, whether our present civilization is ready for such an endeavor, reflecting the fact that the critical uncertainties arepolitical and cultural in nature. It is written in such a way as to allow the non-professional reader to become part of the debate on the future of space programs.

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"Prof. Andrea Sommariva is an international economist, specializing in International Finance and International Monetary Policy. In the past, he worked as Economist at the International Monetary Fund, Economic Advisor at the Italian Ministry of Treasury, Senior Financial Advisor at European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and Senior Consultant to NatWest Capital Markets. He also was Team Leader of the GHG (Greenhouse Gas) group within the Sino-Italian Cooperation Program for Environmental Protection.  At present, he is the CEO of META Co. Ltd., a consulting company based in China, offering to international enterprises and associations, a professional advice and an operating assistance in the relations with institutions and territory and in the processes of internationalization. The company shares knowledges and experiences achieved within legislative and regulation fields, financial industries, manufacturing industries, raw material industries, consumption goods industries, media and communication, and logistics. Andrea Sommariva has also held several academic positions in Italy and abroad in the fields of Finance, Monetary Theory and Political Economy. Prof. Giovanni F. Bignami is a physicist and astronomer. Over the last 40 years he has carried out research in astronomy, from the ground and from space. Professor of Astrophysics at IUSS, Pavia, he has been President of the Italian Space Agency and is now the President of COSPAR, the world-wide Committee on Space Research. He is President of The National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) and has received various awards, including the Rossi Prize of the American Astronomical Society, the Blaise Pascal Medal of the European Academy of Sciences and the von Karman Award of the International Astronautics Academy. He is one of the most authoritative scientists in astrophysical and space research and identified the neutron star ""Geminga""."

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