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We have clearly demonstrated the scientific impossibility of life coming about by chance on earth. Is it possible for life to have been brought here from another planet, outside of God’s direct creative acts upon earth? It is believed by many scientists that the chance conditions of earth may be the only planet in existence with its unique characteristics conducive to life as we know it. This means that if there was the chance possibility of another planet with optimal conditions for life on both the planet and its surrounding solar system, the planet would be in another galaxy so far away that space travel to our earth would be an absolute impossibility with the known physics of the universe.

Why is this true? As soon as astronauts leave the gravitational pull of our planet, their bodies immediately begin to deteriorate. The body loses calcium, muscles shrink, blood vessels constrict, fluid levels decrease. In one month alone the heel bone loses up to 5 percent of its mass. Rigorous exercise in space slows down the process of deterioration but does not stop it.

Providing an artificial gravity for prolonged space travel, as is envisioned in the movie 2001 A Space Odyssey, would require revolving wheels more than six-hundred feet in diameter. This, however, would only slow down the process of deterioration, not stop it. Also it would be impossible to carry all the needed replacement parts needed to maintain such an elaborate traveling spaceship which even near the speed of light would take hundreds of years to get to some of our nearest stars within our own galaxy.

Also the Coriolis effect would cause serious problems. A spin rate of more than one revolution per minute would cause motion sickness. Even a wheel 600 feet in diameter would have to rotate three times a minute to simulate normal earth gravity! The resulting nausea would be terrible. An immense rotating wheel, called a Stanford Torus, would be required in order to lower the Coriolis effect. The larger the object, the greater the chance of collision and damage from objects in space. Wernher von Braun recognized that even slight shifts of weight within the torus would subtly affect the rate of rotation, with disorienting effects on the occupants. Even one rotation per-minute causes low-level physical turmoil.

Then there would be the problem of air pollution in the living quarters of the wheel. Prolonged space travel would also require large quantities of plants and animals. This combined with the humans would produce a tremendous amount of waste products. It has been estimated that 10,000 colonists within a giant wheel would require 60,000 chickens, 30,000 rabbits, and sizeable herds of cattle, to maintain a mixed diet of about 2,400 calories a day. Even with the plants, keeping the environment balanced is very difficult. With centuries of space travel environmental mistakes would accumulate. Biosphere II in Arizona was closed down due to inadequate air circulation, poor food and waste disposal problems.

Maintenance of the spaceship would be impossible. After 23 years (1981-2004) of operation, the space shuttles are showing a variety of problems. To keep them operating properly requires an army of technicians. In prolonged space travel there would be no provision for repairs. Here we are talking about centuries of space travel without ability or places to stop for repairs. For any number of components of the ship to stop working would result in certain death of its occupants. I always get a kick out of the Star Trek Series Voyager which is 70,000 light years away from federation space. They have had numerous practically total destruction episodes of the space craft Voyager, yet some how miraculously without any space-stations to stop at for repairs, by the next week it is totally repaired and operating at peak performance.

Without the earth’s magnetic field and dense atmosphere, in outer space a person is exposed to all kinds of high-speed particles. These are cosmic rays from deep space, as well as X-rays and other emissions from solar flares. The first astronauts complained of regular flashes of light while in orbit caused by nuclear particles bombarding their retinas. Plans for putting a manned station on the moon alone include cylindrical modules buried under six feet of lunar topsoil to protect people from dangerous ultra-violet light, solar radiation, high-speed particles and X-rays. Setting up this kind of protection for prolonged space travel would be next to impossible.

NASA complains now about how difficult it is to put satellites into orbit without the possibility of colliding with junk in space left over from other rockets and satellites put in space. Junk in space travels so fast that even a paint particle could cause serious damage to a manned rocket. In outer space there are sizeable amounts of meteoroids. It is impossible for NASA to map space completely within our solar system let alone outside it. Traveling at extremely high speeds through billions of miles of space for several years guarantees collision with fatal unknown objects.

Many electrical gadgets would be needed to sustain life. This would include such things as humidifiers for the air. Solar panels would supply power while near enough to the sun, but once out of its range this would be of no value and we all know how often we need to replace batteries.

The greatest challenge would be could the spaceship residence maintain peace over decades and hundreds of years without killing and destroying each other. People getting along was a major problem for the Biosphere II experiment.

The distances to be traveled would be incredible. Voyager 1 traveling at 25,000 mph will take 30,000 years to pass by Ross 248, the nearest star in its flight path. To reach one of our closest stars Epsilon Eridani at the speed of light would take 10.8 years. There is not a ship on earth which can even reach a fraction of this speed. At these speeds collision with unknown objects in space would be certain. If they were to reach the next star, there is no guarantee of a habitable planet to live on. They would have to turn around and come back, and without repairs and needed supplies would die in space.

Current space fuels, even theoretic modes of space travel proposed, are greatly inefficient. Even if they were to reach their destiny, more fuel would be needed to stop then to get there to keep from just flying by.

Beyond a certain point, radio communication would become impractical since it would take so long for the message to reach earth and visa versa. At the speed of light, a radio message would take eight years to reach the nearest star in our galaxy: Alpha Centauri. Even an unmanned probe has the same problem.

The high cost of water, oxygen and food transport, along with many other problems, dooms man’s hopes for long-term earth-orbiting, or lunar, or Martian space stations. Even on earth within a hundred years if man does not start working on severe conservation measures will find himself on his own planet short of many of the resources needed to maintain life.

The physics of the universe is the same anywhere. It is just as impossible for someone else to reach our galaxy through space travel as it is for us.

1. P.W. Blass and J. Camp, Society in Orbit, Space World, July 1988.

2. M. Bloomfield, "Sociology of an Interstellar Vehicle," Journal of the British Interplanetary Society, 1986, Vol. 39.

3. R.W. Bussard, "Galactic Matter and Interstellar Flight," Astronautic Acta, 1960, Vol. 6.

4. J. Eberhard, "Space 1990: Launching a New Decade of Exploration," Science News, January 13, 1990.

5. R.L. Forward, "Negative Matter Propulsion," Journal of Propulsion and Power, January-February 1990.

6. R.L. Forward, "Starwisp: An Ultraviolet Interstellar Probe," Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets, 1985, Vol. 22.

7. V. Garshnek, "Crucial Factor: Human," Space Policy, August 1989.

8. A.C. Holt, "Hydromagnetic and Future Propulsion Systems," AIAA Student Journal, Spring 1980.

9. "Magnetic Sailing Across Interstellar Space," Ad Astra, January 1990.

10. J.I. Merritt, "Pioneering the Space Frontier," Princeton Alumni Weekly, October 11, 1989.

11. R. Pool, "The Chase Continues for Metallic Hydrogen," Science, March 30, 1990.

12. I. Wickelgren, "Bone Loss: A Circulating Secret of Skeletal Stability," Science News, December 24-31, 1988

13. R.M. Zumbrin, "Nuclear Rockets Using Indigenous Propellants," Planetary Report, May-June 1990

14. R.D. Johnson and C. Howbrow, "Space Settlements: A Design Study," NASA Scientific and Technical Information Office, 1977

15. "Voyager: Mission Summary," NASA, Jet propulsion Laboratory, no date.

What is the Anthropic Principle? This states that God so created the universe, our solar system and earth for the purpose of sustaining physical life on earth, and especially human life, as we know it. We are just the right distance from the Sun. Any closer and we would be too hot to sustain life, any further away and it would be too cold. The moon is positioned just right for tidal waves which are necessary to keep poisons from forming in the ocean and to keep our water pure for drinking through gravitational pull of under ground streams and rivers. The design of our atmosphere keeps out harmful radiation and ultraviolet light.

The following facts of our physical universe indicate clearly that the universe was created by an Intelligent Designer to sustain life as we know it:

Gravitational Coupling Constant (the force of gravity) determines what kind of stars we have in the universe. If the gravitational force were slightly stronger, star formation would come about more quickly and the mass of these stars would be 1.4 times greater than they are now. However, if the stars like our sun had 1.4 times its current mass, it would burn too rapidly and too inconstantly to maintain life-supporting conditions to surrounding planets.

If the Gravitational Force were slightly weaker, all stars would be less than 0.8 times the mass of the sun. These suns would burn longer, but they would not be able to produce elements necessary for sustaining life. If this force were slightly stronger, nuclear particles would tend to bond together more frequently and more firmly. This would result in hydrogen, a bachelor nuclear particle, and heavy elements like iron being very rare in the universe which would also make life impossible in the universe.

The Weak Nuclear Force Coupling Constant affects the behavior of leptons. Leptons form a whole class of elementary particles (e.g. neutrinos, electrons, and photons) that do not participate in strong nuclear reactions. The most familiar weak interaction effect is radioactivity, in particular, the beta decay reaction. If the weak nuclear force coupling constant were slightly larger, neutrons would decay more readily, and therefore would be less available. If this were true, little or no helium would be produced. Without the necessary helium, heavy elements sufficient for the construction of life would not exist. However, if this constant were slightly smaller, most or all of the hydrogen would be burned into helium with a subsequent over-abundance of heavy elements.

The Strong Nuclear Force is much more delicately balanced. An increase as small as two percent means that protons would never form from quarks (particles that form the building blocks of baryons and mesons). A similar decrease means that certain heavy elements essential for life would be unstable. Again, life as we know it would not be possible under these conditions. If the weak nuclear force were smaller, neutrinos would quietly escape during a supernova explosion, failing to interact sufficiently with the the outer layers of the star, and thus preventing significant expulsion of heavy elements. If the weak nuclear force were larger, neutrinos would be trapped inside the cores of supernovae and again would be unable to facilitate the expulsion of the heavy elements which are the building blocks for life.

The Electromagnetic Coupling Constant binds electrons to protons in atoms. The characteristics of the orbits of electrons about atomic nuclei determines to what degree atoms will bond together to form molecules. If the electromagnetic coupling constant were slightly smaller, few electrons would be held in orbits about nuclei. If it were slightly larger, an atom could not "share" an electron orbit with other atoms. Either way, the necessary molecules for life would not exist.

The Ratio of Protons to Electrons establishes the function of gravity relative to electromagnetism. The ratio of protons and electrons in the universe are one part in 1,037. Had this balance been slightly different, electromagnetism would so dominate gravity that galaxies, stars and planets as we know them could not exist.

The Ratio of Electron to Proton Mass also determines the characteristics of the orbits of electrons about nuclei. A proton is 1,836 times more massive than an electron. If the electron to proton mass ratio were much larger or smaller, again, the necessary molecules would not form, and life would not be impossible.

The Entropy Level of the Universe affects the degree to which massive systems (e.g. galaxies and stars) condense. The ratio of photons to baryons tells us how entropic our universe is. That ratio is about a billion to one. Thus, we can say that the universe is extremely entropic, i.e. a very efficient radiator and a very poor engine. If the entropy level for the universe were slightly larger, no galactic systems would exist or stars. If the entropy level were slightly smaller, the galactic systems that formed would effectively trap radiation and prevent any fragmentation of the systems into stars. Either way, the universe would be devoid of stars and life as we know it.