Space Education & Strategic Applications Volume 1, Number 1, Spring/Summer 2020 | Page 5

Vindication Of Cosmic Biology: Tribute To Sir Fred Hoyle (1915-2001)
Chandra Wickramasinghe, (Editor), 2018.
In the year 2015, 100 years after Fred Hoyle was born, the ideas relating to the
cosmic origins of life are slowly gaining credence in scientific circles. Once
regarded as outrageous heresy, evidence from a variety of disciplines—astronomy,
geology, biology—is converging to support these once heretical ideas.
This volume opens with recent review articles pointing incontrovertibly towards
our cosmic heritage, followed by a collection of published articles tracing
the development of the theory throughout the years. The discovery that
microorganisms—bacteria and viruses—are incredibly resistant to the harshest
conditions of space, along with the detection of an estimated 144 billion
habitable planets around other star systems in our galaxy alone, makes it virtually
impossible to maintain that life on one planet will not interact with life
elsewhere. The emerging position is that life arose exceedingly rarely, possibly
only once, in the history of the cosmos, but its subsequent spread was unstoppable.
"Panspermiology" can no longer be described as an eccentric doctrine,
but rather is the only doctrine supported by an overwhelming body of evidence.
Fred Hoyle's work in this area may in the fullness of time come to be
regarded as his most important scientific contribution.
Engineering, Life Sciences, and Health/Medicine Synergy in Aerospace
Human Systems Integration: The Rosetta Stone Project.
Richard S. Williams and Charles R. Doarn (Editors).
NASA/SP-2017-633, HQ-E-DAA-TN51162.
A concise review of the human in the loop for space stems design, bringing
together relevant examples from the past the design of aerospace systems and
ensuing human factors problems.
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