A Useful Thought Experiment: <Insert Random Word> - “In Space.”
Derived from a risqué Mormon family tradition.
Growing up my family had a very specific rule: After eating a fortune cookie, one must read aloud the fortune, and add “in bed” to the end, regardless of what the fortune said. Without fail, it turned the generic fortune into a dirty joke. As a Mormon family (at the time), we found great amusement in the results, as it was quite risqué for our otherwise ultraconservative lives.1
At some point in my early 20s, I took inspiration from this family tradition and developed a method for generating countless thought experiments:
Pick an activity that occurs on Earth. Any activity. A boring one. An exciting one. A routine one. A rare one. Literally anything! Use a random word generator, if needed.
State the activity, then add “in space” to the end.
Think through what it would take to conduct that activity in space. Everything! All the minute details that turn a simple activity on Earth into a complex activity in space.
Consider what new technologies or scientific understanding would need to be developed to enable it.
BONUS POINTS: Go see if any research has been conducted on the topic, and determine the state of knowledge for the topic.
This thought experiment methodology has served me well throughout the years. In graduate school, it was a tool for coming up with term paper topics. At a space startup, it was a useful tool for interrogating the value chain of the company’s vision. As an investor, it was a valuable tool for assessing the timeliness, risks, and complexity associated with a company’s proposed business. As a consultant, it enables me to explore areas outside of my current expertise and develop an entry point for finding common ground with companies and people from nearly any industry. It also means I’m never bored, because there’s always an activity to which I haven’t yet added “in space.”
Furthermore, it provides me a powerful lens to observe the world, a lens under which I can find a relevance to space for anything. In my brain: Urban planning? Connected to space. Coffee? Connected to space. Maternal Care Deserts? Connected to space. These connections are likely not obvious to most readers, but for me, they have become as automatic as breathing (well, maybe not that automatic, but hyperbole can be fun!).
Urban Planning in Space
Two different branches of thinking emerge on this one: (1) using urban planning as a discipline to inform the development of future space settlements, and (2) using space technologies as a tool for urban planning on Earth. Let’s examine both.
For future space settlements:
If space settlements are ever going to come to fruition, urban planning tools, approaches, and processes will need to be applied to space. A space settlement will require land use assessments, infrastructure planning, resource management, transportation and communication network development, sanitation and waste management, economic development considerations, population growth planning, among many other activities. In addition, it will be important to ask, which of these will be handled by government entities, which will be handled by private companies, and which will require public-private partnerships?
In the long run, urban planning will become an important discipline in the space sector, so if there are any urban planners out there with an interest in space, let’s talk!
Some further resources on the topic:
Urban planning in space: 3 off-world designs for future cities
Space Urban Planning: Part I and Part II
Charting A Course Through Cislunar Master Planning
Space supporting urban planning on Earth:
Earth observation, satellite communications, and position, navigation, and timing (PNT) are all space technologies that could be used to improve urban planning on Earth. Earth observation could be used for land use monitoring, climate monitoring, and disaster management. Satellite communications could be used for smart city internet-of-things connectivity, internet connectivity for public green spaces, and emergency services and disaster response. PNT could be used for improving traffic management, monitoring local animal populations, and making public transit more user-friendly.
This list just scratches the service of how space technologies can be used to improve urban planning and management, and some of these are likely already being implemented in cities across the globe. If you’re interested in exploring more about how space can improve your city, let’s talk!
Some further resources on the topic:
Space technologies in support of urban planning
Space Technology: A Catalyst for Smart Urban Planning
How can space improve urban planning?
Coffee in Space
Similar to urban planning, two branches of thinking emerge: (1) determining what it takes to consume coffee in space, and (2) using space technologies to improve coffee supply chains on Earth. The latter of which requires a larger discussion of agriculture-in-space, which is a topic area deserving of an in-depth analysis, so let’s focus on the former.
For consumption in space:
We could begin this discussion at the start of the value chain, growing coffee in space, but as previously mentioned we’ll save agriculture-in-space as a topic for another time. Instead, let’s focus on brewing and drinking coffee in space. Since brewing coffee on Earth relies on gravity, brewing coffee in space would require specially designed equipment. Similarly, a coffee mug on Earth also requires gravity to function. Thus, a specially designed space coffee mug is also needed. In addition, it’s been shown that space alters people’s taste buds, so a stronger cup of joe than one would consume on Earth is also likely in order.
The state of space coffee technology is quite mature. Read more below:
The History of Coffee in Space
Coffee in Space: A Brief History
NASA’s sci-fi space cup holds a drink without gravity
Maternal Care Deserts in Space
Space is a maternal care desert, and I can guarantee that the vast majority of people thinking about future space settlements have never considered the need for maternal care in space, but if women are going to be part of future space settlements, then maternal care is going to be needed eventually. Interestingly, the technologies that will be needed to enable maternal care in space have a lot in common with the technologies that could improve outcomes in maternal care deserts on Earth.
For example, technologies that miniaturize the typical instruments found in a maternity ward, so that they are portable enough for easy transport to remote locations, as well as technologies that can be quickly understood and utilized when an OB-GYN cannot be physically present, would improve the situation in maternal care deserts on Earth and pave the way for maternal care in space.
I wrote a term paper in graduate school about a decade ago related to this topic, so perhaps I’ll share that publicly soon. In the meantime, here’s a sampling of articles on maternal care in space:
Mars ain’t the kind of place to raise your kid
Human development and reproduction in space
Concluding Remarks
These thought experiments are incredibly valuable, both for fully grasping the complexity that will accompany future human activity beyond Earth and for understanding how space research and technology can help improve life back on Earth. Having conducted such thought experiments hundreds, if not a thousand, times over the past decade, I’ve learned that everything is connected to space, it’s just a matter of when, not if that connection comes to fruition. And these thought experiments can help me predict the when, by helping me fully grasp the complexity of translating anything into the space domain.
Due to this lens with which I often look at the world, I find it funny when people in the venture capital community refer to me as “too specialized.” Because if I were to raise my own venture fund, space likely would play an important role in the investment thesis. However, since I see everything as connected to space, my portfolio would look like a generalist fund, but would be underpinned by a very clear thesis connecting otherwise disparate companies. If we, as humanity, ever want to achieve the forward looking visions that include centers of commerce beyond Earth, we are going to need to learn how to do just about everything in space. Perhaps one day I’ll raise a fund to do just that!
As I was writing this post, I reached out to my parents to inquiry the origin of this family tradition. They do not remember, but they know that it didn’t come from either of their families, which means it’s probably not a common tradition among Mormons. My family is just weird!