Space Flight as an Anticipatory Computing System
Edgar Mitchell, Sc.D.
Institute of Noetic Sciences
The opportunity to explore the lunar surface with Alan Shepard in 1971 was
certainly the apogee of my twenty-five year career as a pilot, test
pilot and astronaut. Second only to that event was an encounter in 1972
when as astronaut delegate to a NASA futures planning conference I was
in residence for a week with Wernher von Braun and Arthur C. Clarke,
two of the most visionary thinkers of our century.
It has been an enormous pleasure and a great privilege for me to have
participated with giants such as these, plus the thousands of others
who helped make Earth's civilization an extra-terrestrial enterprise
in this century. It is regrettable, but likely necessary, that we have
languished for almost thirty years in Earth orbit since Apollo with
neither the boldness nor the leadership to continue exploration of the
solar system in an aggressive way. Necessary, because it is clear that
we do not have the global vision, the political will nor the economic
resources to undertake deep space exploration enthusiastically, but
must proceed at a snail's pace to tease nature's secrets from the cosmos
— and wait until the political time is right for additional deep space
exploration by humans.
We went to the Moon for political reasons, to establish political and
technological dominance in space for the western world. At least that
is the reason the U.S. government provided funds and the leadership.
And it is the reason that the American public supported it—a space
race against communist ideology. That is not the reason most of the
participants in the American space program were involved, it was the
excuse that made it possible. We were there for exploration, for technological
and scientific progress—and for adventure. A political rationale
was perhaps superficial, but better than no program at all. As a result
of political and public apathy once that dominance was achieved, only
seven of the ten landing missions were launched, and one had to return
without landing. The scientific accomplishment, although great, fell
far short of what we had hoped to achieve with Apollo. And, the Apollo
landings were accomplished largely with classical Newtonian science.
Except for communications technologies and small thermonuclear generators
to power certain lunar surface experiments, no scientific breakthroughs
nor exotic quantum technologies were required to accomplish Apollo.
The design criterion was "state of the art" as much as possible in order
to meet President Kennedy's constraint of "— by the end of this decade."
As a pilot and astronaut, my interests were primarily on the engineering
concerns of propulsion, navigation and control. Successful lunar science
depended first upon successful control and piloting of the vehicles
to take us there. The techniques employed were classical anticipatory
computation, that is, appropriate Keplerian orbits were selected in
near Earth space, translunar space, and near lunar space. They were
linked at the points of major engine burns where the spacecraft would
transition from one orbit to the next, then let gravitation do the rest.
Newton's classical laws were all applied. Ground tracking was done by
Earth based sensors and perturbation theory was used to compute corrections
for return to the desired flight path. On board control was maintained
by stable platforms, which were aligned through sighting on a few of
the sixty-four major navigational stars. The system was simple, classical
and effective; an extension of Earth bound sea and air navigation systems
but with primary computation and navigation from mission control on
Earth rather than aboard the spacecraft. It is of interest to point
out, in this day of massive desktop computers, that the onboard computers
for each of the spacecraft enjoyed 64K bits of memory operating at much
less than 10 MHz. On the spacecraft, the crew was responsible for physical
control of the spacecraft, management of its systems, alignment of the
stable platform, executing thruster and major engine maneuvers. Most
importantly, however, the crew had primary responsibility in compensating
for equipment failure and providing judgment in times of crisis, both
in space and on the lunar surface. Nominal missions required about one-third
of the training time. The rest was consumed in contingency training.
Today, as we ponder the planets of our solar system, the stars and
galaxies beyond, they seem almost as out of reach for humans as they
did thirty years ago. It is very likely, however, that the planets of
our solar system will be reached in the near future, beginning with
Mars, when we find the political will to go there. No major new technologies
are required, only the commitment. However, there was a small communications
time delay on lunar missions. The two second delay for transmissions
between the Earth and the Moon was a mere annoyance to flight operations
for Apollo, it is a harbinger of more difficult problems which will
beset us as we reach for the outermost planets and beyond. The relatively
simple robotic probes now in use to explore the major planets of Sol
can be managed from Earth control centers in spite of the agonizing
hours of time delay to obtain a reply from a distant spacecraft. Human
voyagers will require much more autonomy and would be unable to function
effectively if required to rely upon such communications. With today's
technology the Martian exploration will require a minimum of three years
mission duration and communications transit time of about 40 minutes.
That is difficult operationally but is achievable.
Of greater interest to me, however, is the larger picture and preparations
for exploration beyond our solar system. The scientific and technological
development of this century has been astounding. From horseback transportation
to lunar exploration in just over 100 years is rapid progress. But we
are as yet primitive, juveniles in the cosmic scheme of things. Certainly
there are technological civilizations in our galaxy thousands, perhaps
millions, of years older than we. Recognition of this likelihood has
been slow in coming, but it has been accelerating rapidly over the past
three decades since Apollo, so that most knowledgeable people today
accept this possibility.
The great discoveries of the early twentieth century brought us special
and general relativity, then quantum mechanics. But almost none of this
knowledge was needed to go to the moon as we worked with classical Euclidian
space and Keplerian orbits. Never the less, relativity seemed to confine
us to our solar system with its speed of light limitation. Conventional
wisdom has decreed for almost a century that the speed of light is an
absolute barrier, effectively precluding humans from intragalactic travel.
It would now seem, however, that another revolution is taking place
which will produce extensions and major changes to both relativity theory
and quantum mechanics, just as relativity and the quantum added to classical
theories. These changes have come about precisely because of the ability
to look greater distances into space, to look deeper into matter, to
place instruments and sensors in Earth orbit, and to achieve high-energy
interactions. Perhaps we can break out of our solar confinement. The
developments in question are chaos theory, confirmation of quantum theory's
non-locality, discovery of the quantum hologram, metric probing of the
zero point field, orbiting atomic clocks and observations of the early
universe. It is these developments that I want to discuss, for they
point the way to future space flight into the galaxy and beyond.
As a hopeful galactic navigator, if not for me then for our progeny, it is
paramount that we understand the medium we are traversing in the same
way the earliest sea faring peoples learned the oceans, and aviators
learned the atmosphere. Our operational task is to get from here to
there and, hopefully, return. To go to the moon we used Newtonian physics
and flat Euclidean space. It is abundantly clear that such theory is
insufficient for travel beyond our solar system.
The Michelson/Morley experiment at the turn of the century banished
the ether from twentieth century physics. Quantum theory has required
reincarnating the ether concept in altered form as the zero point field
to account for the seething cauldron of particles, anti-particles, virtual
particles and quantum fluctuations that appear and disappear in nature.
Obviously interplanetary space, interstellar space and intergalactic
space is not empty, even if we exclude the ephemeral clouds of gases
and the matter ejected from ancient stars. Einstein suggested that space
itself is curved because the tensor mathematics of Georg Riemann so
elegantly model space, time and gravitation in general relativity. And,
experiments seem to confirm this interpretation. But if that is true,
what is it that is curving? Emptiness and nothingness cannot curve!
There needs to be something, some substance that makes up the fabric
of space/time to create the effect of curvature. Haisch, Rueda and Puthoff
(1994,1997,1998) have been theorizing and experimenting with the properties
of the zero point field for much more than a decade from the point of
view of Stochastic Electro-Dynamics (SED). They argue convincingly that
measurable properties of the zero point field are neither homogeneous
nor isotropic and may more accurately account for the apparent relativistic
curvature of space than does a warped space frame. Further, they theorize
that the enigmas of mass, inertia and gravitation may not be fundamental
properties at all, but directly the result of electrodynamic interactions
between the electromagnetic properties of matter and the underlying
zero point field. The fact that the measured masses of individual constituent
particles is greater than their combined mass in an atomic nucleus,
and, that the discrepancy may be accounted for by electrodynamic interaction,
lends credence to this idea.
Recent data from the Hubble Space Telescope and other space borne sensors
have caused a flurry of new activity in cosmology and in cosmic topology
computations. It is no longer clear how fast and or how far the initial
inflation of the big bang extended. Or, whether the big bang was as
hot as the inflationary model suggests, or just one of many in a sea
of warm multi-bubble universes. It is no longer clear whether the most
distant galaxies observed are really that distant, or are we just viewing
our own backsides in a hall of mirrors. Further, quantum states have
now been teleported over 400 kilometers.
Science has struggled for almost a century with the discrepancies between
special relativity, general relativity and quantum mechanics without
the technological means to seek resolution until the current era. Special
relativity (SR) counts all moving reference frames as equal since the
speed of light is measured as the same in each, and it denies the ability
to define an absolute rest frame. But SR was formulated after the Michelson/Morley
experiment and before the Hubble expansion was discovered. If the big
bang is in fact a point of origin of the universe, then a frame defined
at that point can be considered as a rest frame even though the point
may not be directly measurable. The Doppler shift in black body background
radiation from the big bang, however, gives a vector of movement for
our galaxy, presumably away from the origin. Van Flandern has argued
(1996,1998) that measurements from orbiting atomic clocks of the Global
Positioning System (GPS), calibrated to within a few nanoseconds, give
results for relativistic time dilation that are more accurate by a factor
of 4 in the context of Lorentzian relativity (LR) than for special relativity
(0.7% for LR vs. 3% for SR). LR permits a rest frame to exist, assumes
an ether and permits simultaneity in the universe. SR denies these assumptions.
However, in most cases of matter/energy conversion, LR and SR yield
similar results. The differences in LR and SR, while often numerically
small, have profound implications. Lorentzian relativity is more easily
reconciled with general relativity than is SR.
Van Flandern has approached the issues differently than Haisch, Rueda
and Puthoff. The former has looked for anomalous measurements in astrophysical
data, whereas the latter team is concerned with the quantum electrodynamic
phenomena of the zero point field. But Van Flandern has also challenged
the classical space curvature interpretation of general relativity (GR).
He correctly points out that curved space is an interpretation of GR
not a requirement. Van Flandren also argued (1993) that if gravitation
is a propagating force and not the result of space curvature, in order
to have infinite range, it must also have instantaneous effect. Using
the light aberration argument of Laplace (trans1966) but with modern
measurements, he places a lower limit on the propagation velocity of
gravitation at 1010 c. He also argues that if gravitation
is carried by particles the mean free path of the particles before scattering
takes place is likely between 1 – 2 kiloparsecs. This particle model
of gravity will then approach an inverse linear relationship at distances
greater than 2 kiloparsecs rather than the classical Newtonian inverse
square relationship, which is preserved in GR. Van Flander cites astrophysical
measurements which support his claim and also to refute the curved space
interpretation of GR.
These challenges to a number of classical and relativistic sacred cows
of this century is not surprising, as science has always progressed
by pursuing anomalies to the existing order. They are only possible
because of the technological advances, including space flight, which
have extended our view deeper into the universe. However, the implications
of these observed anomalies are enormous. Are the simultaneity required
by quantum non-locality and the required superluminal speed of gravity
particles related phenomena? Is non-locality truly instantaneous or
just very, very fast? Or, are both gravitation and non-locality really
instantaneous? In either case it is the propagation of information about
a physical object that is fundamental. And information is only now being
recognized as having fundamental importance to all of science.
To escape our solar prison and to explore intra and inter galactic
space it is certain that propulsion systems far beyond current technologies
are required. Chemical and nuclear fuels simply will not suffice, nor
will classical communications. Puthoff (personal communication) expects
that investigations of the zero point field will eventually yield useable
energy sources for deep space propulsion. NASA projects have already
been awarded to study such advanced systems as well as recently announced
projects to extend and expand the search for exobiology. If humans are
to progress deeper into the cosmos than our own solar system, these
studies must be brought to fruition and the speed of light barrier must
be broken through new understanding.
Alcubierre has proposed a method of engineering the zero point field
to produce warp speeds. Although criticized as being energy prohibitive,
it should be no more so than creating a wormhole in space, particularly
if the energy of the zero point field itself can be utilized as Puthoff
proposes. These advanced theoretical concepts are yet in their infancy
and, as in all of science, must be advanced through experiment toward
eventual perfection.
It is my opinion (Mitchell, 1996) that quantum non-locality is a major
key to the scientific puzzles plaguing quantum theory and relativity.
Dismissed for most of this century as a curious artifact of subatomic
particle interaction, non-locality is beginning to emerge as an important
phenomenon. The impediment has been the speed limit imposed by special
relativity and the erroneous belief that non-local information was not
recoverable. The non-local quantum hologram has been discovered experimentally,
the graviton has not but its effects are universally recognized. Both
require very, very fast propagation, if not instantaneous simultaneity.
Gravitation holds the universe together, the quantum hologram helps
it self organize (Mitchell, 1999). It is likely that resolving the mechanics
of non-locality will finally resolve conflicts between theories of the
very, very small, the very, very fast and the very, very large, and
will allow information and consciousness to be recognized as the "flip
side" of energy, and as important as matter in the organization
of the cosmos.
In a little know report (Krichevskii, 1996), records the experiences
of two Russian cosmonauts living aboard the Mir spacecraft for six months.
Their concerns about official reaction to the experience requires their
anonymity. I cite the report in this paper because the quantum hologram
(discussed in several papers at this conference) offers a valid explanation
for the unusual experiences of the cosmonauts. They each, but not simultaneously,
experienced dream and waking states featuring extraordinary perceptions.
They also experienced distorted time perception during these events.
The cosmonauts frequently perceived themselves as other creatures on
Earth, including dinosaurs, other humans and extraterrestrials. They
discussed these experiences in great detail, including hearing voices,
instructions and precognitive predictions about their spacecraft's future
problems, which were all subsequently fulfilled. They experienced these
events as though the information originated outside themselves. With
good reason they could not report these events to their controllers
nor to the medical monitors for fear of mental disqualification and
loss of flight status. Only the quantum hologram permits a framework
to explain these events within the context of science, without resorting
to hallucination and mental dysfunction.
Most astronauts and cosmonauts have had a heightened awareness and
profound insights during prolonged space experiences. Though discussed
privately, but seldom reported officially, these experiences must now
be considered in the context of long duration space voyages. The book
"The Home Planet" provides only an intriguing taste of these
experiences in its brief captions to the inspiring photographs. For
the purposes of this paper, I raise the question: "Does the quantum
hologram and non-locality offer a new avenue for research into alternative
communication for space travel?" Alcubierre with the warp drive,
Van Flandern with astrophysical measurements, and Haish, Rueda, Puthoff
with zero point field theory, have raised serious and vital questions
about the validity of certain quantum and relativistic interpretations.
Non-local information has been considered a useless curiosity, except
to entangled particles, for most of this century. It now appears to
be the basis for our most personal experience — subjectivity (Mitchell,
1999). Does this also mean that we perhaps can find a method, which
builds upon current knowledge of quantum computing, quantum holography
and non-locality to communicate across the universe when we can go there?
Anticipatory computing systems require not only of the current state
of the system but knowledge of the desired state to be achieved. We
explored the lunar surface using anticipatory computing systems based
upon classical Newtonian and Keplerian principles. But clearly they
are insufficient to go beyond our solar system. We are in the process
of convincing ourselves that the limitations of special relativity,
the predictions of general relativity and the interpretations of early
quantum theory are not absolute, but rather stepping stones to a new
understanding of the cosmos and how to explore it. It is the human destiny
to explore our world. We may use robots to lead the way, but we will
not feel that we have fulfilled destiny until we make it a personal
journey. And to do so, we must break the light barrier both in propulsion
and communications technologies. My article of faith is that we shall
be able to do so in the coming decades. So — "Beam me somewhere,
Scotty."
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Vol. 34, No. 6 pp. 26–31, (1994).
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Implications for Inertia, Gravity and Mass" Speculations in Science
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Haisch, B., Rueda, A., Puthoff, H.E. "Advances in the Proposed Zero-Point
Field Theory of Inertia," 34th AIAA Joint Propulsion Conference,
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in Near-Earth Orbit: A New Cosmic Phenomenon," Sozn. Fiz Real 1 (4)
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Laplace, "Mechanique Celeste," English translation, ed Chelsea Publ,
NY (1966).
Mitchell, E.D & Williams, D., "The Way of the Explorer" Putnam, NY,
(1996).
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Atlantic Books (1993).
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