Strange Horizons Discussion Forum: Cruising the Infinite: Strategies for Human Interstellar Travel, by Paul Lucas

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Dear Paul,

I agree that seed ships are an intriguing idea for colonizing interstellar space. And yes, they rely heavily on extremely advanced and reliable artificial intelligence and robotics.

I'm a computer scientist and have also studied computational linguistics and wrote a book based on the concept you describe. To find out how the raising of the children by androids would work, I introduced the idea of having indentical twins born years apart (employing the method of embryo splitting). Here's my book's press release:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

New science fiction writer Matt Browne explores the ramifications of identical twins born years apart

THE FUTURE HAPPENS TWICE

Book 1 in the trilogy: THE PERENNIAL PROJECT
732 pages
ISBN-13: 978-1844018307
Date: June 14, 2007
Published by Athena Press, London

For decades scientists have dreamed of sending deep-frozen humans on interstellar missions. But until this dream comes true, they must settle for a much simpler technique available: the freezing of human embryos. However, long distance space travel of this nature poses other challenges, none more so than the management of artificial pregnancies and how to raise the children produced.

One viable solution comes in the form of advanced biotechnology and highly sophisticated androids, and a large scale project has been implemented to explore these options. To prove that it can really work, the project's scientists go a step further. Somewhere in the Nevada desert and well hidden underground, they conduct an eighteen-year-long experiment using a young starship crew unaware of their true environment. Surrounded by complex simulations, the crew believes they are approaching a distant star system, one that appears to host a planet suitable for human colonization. What they also don't know is the fact that their embryos had been split prior to the implantation in the womb devices.

The scientists' bold plan is to send the twin embryos on the real mission, pioneering the frontier of space. From both identical genes and an identical environment inside the starship, they arrive at the assumption that the future is a mere repetition of the present events. And indeed, about 42,000 years later the twins grow up with the very same android parents.

But then things start to drift away from the original plan. The real starship crew now faces a constant battle for survival. Only their fortitude and strong determination to land on the extrasolar planet averts a disaster. The reward is the new exotic world that awaits them, full of overwhelming potential.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Matt Browne is a computer scientist with an M.S. degree from the University of Kansas. He works for a large, multinational company in the information technology division. He lives near Frankfurt, Germany, is married and has two twin children. In 1996 Matt Browne began his part-time writing career. Currently he is underway completing Human Destiny, the second novel of the Future Happens Twice trilogy.

Greetings,
Matt Browne

My website is http://www.meet-matt-browne.com