Description
Dr. Jastrow, founder and for twenty years director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, received the NASA Medal for Exceptional Scientific Achievement and was a key figure in the U.S. space program. Journey to the Stars is his masterwork on our future in space. First, he examines what astronomers have already learned about the riddles of the Cosmos, including the Big Bang theory, the baffling black holes and quasars, the birth of stars, the creation of our planet from a cloud of stardust, and the evolution of simple atoms into conscious life.
When men and women leave the earth, they will embark on the most exciting quest in history-the search for intelligent life on other worlds. How will we reach even the nearest stars beyond our solar system? What will life be like aboard a multigenerational spaceship? Are primitive life forms buried beneath the surface of nearby planets? Are other beings listening in on our TV transmissions? Will they reply? These are questions Robert Jastrow, internationally known scientist and authority on life in the Cosmos, addresses in this brilliant new book.
We are already reaching out to other intelligent life in the Cosmos. Even now our TV transmissions are spreading through the galaxy at the speed of light and have swept past many stars. Dr. Jastrow identifies the nearby stars that are likely sites for intelligent life. "If extraterrestrial beings exist on these stars, they have received our message," he writes. "They know we are here."
ISBN:9780593019085
