Manuscript/Mixed Material Direct contact among galactic civilizations by relativistic interstellar spaceflight : draft

About this Item

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About this Item

Title

  • Direct contact among galactic civilizations by relativistic interstellar spaceflight : draft

Names

  • Sagan, Carl (Author)

Created / Published

  • 1960-1962

Headings

  • -  Space travel
  • -  Interplanetary voyages
  • -  Extraterrestrial life
  • -  Life on other planets
  • -  Habitable planets
  • -  Drake, Frank D
  • -  Drake equation
  • -  Relativity (Physics)
  • -  Carl Sagan
  • -  Manuscripts

Genre

  • Manuscripts

Notes

  • -  A draft of Sagan's paper, "Direct contact among galactic civilizations by relativistic interstellar spaceflight." The paper explores models for the distribution of technical civilizations in the galaxy. Using Frank D. Drake's equation to suggest that 0.001 percent of stars in the sky have a planet on them on which an advanced civilization resides. Sagan suggests the nearest such advanced civilization is several hundred light years away from earth. From there, Sagan explores the feasibility of interstellar spaceflight as a means for traversing such distances. The paper ends in consideration of the possibility of extraterrestrial contact with Earth in the past. The paper was initially presented at a meeting of the American Rocket Society in November of 1962 and subsequently submitted to Planetary and Space Science in December of 1962 and published in 1963.

Medium

  • Dimensions in inches: 8 1/2 x 5 (1 page)

Source Collection

  • The Seth MacFarlane Collection of the Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan Archive

Repository

  • Manuscript Division

Online Format

  • pdf
  • image

IIIF Presentation Manifest

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Sagan, Carl. Direct Contact Among Galactic Civilizations by Relativistic Interstellar Spaceflight: Draft. to 1962, 1960. Manuscript/Mixed Material. https://www.loc.gov/item/cosmos000012/.

APA citation style:

Sagan, C. (1960) Direct Contact Among Galactic Civilizations by Relativistic Interstellar Spaceflight: Draft. to 1962. [Manuscript/Mixed Material] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/cosmos000012/.

MLA citation style:

Sagan, Carl. Direct Contact Among Galactic Civilizations by Relativistic Interstellar Spaceflight: Draft. to 1962, 1960. Manuscript/Mixed Material. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/cosmos000012/>.