Arguments are presented which show that motives for interstellar travel by advanced technological civilizations based on an extrapolation of earth's history may be quite invalid. In addition, it is proposed that interstellar travel is so enormously expensive and perhaps so hazard
Selection note: Curated because this 1985 conference paper from Legacy CDMS specifically covers “On the question of interstellar travel”; its abstract describes Arguments are presented which show that motives for interstellar travel by advanced technological civilizations based on an extrapolation of earth's history may be quite… This materially informs GShips ethics and alternatives.
Evidence boundary: Only NTRS metadata and abstract are open here; full-text methods and results were unavailable for this pass. Inclusion is contextual discovery support, not automatic evidence for a GShips claim.
Stable record
ntrs-19860053431
Topic
ethics-alternatives
Type
Conference Paper
Publisher
Legacy CDMS
Authors
Wolfe, J. H.
Year
1985
Editorial state
metadata curated editorial draft
Reviewer
GShips Project editorial synthesis
Official link checked
2026-07-25
Source-supplied abstract
Arguments are presented which show that motives for interstellar travel by advanced technological civilizations based on an extrapolation of earth's history may be quite invalid. In addition, it is proposed that interstellar travel is so enormously expensive and perhaps so hazardous, that advanced civilizations do not engage in such practices because of the ease of information transfer via interstellar communication.
Abstract text has not been adopted as a GShips conclusion.
What would change this record?
A newer or corrected version, a retraction, a verified duplicate, a material topic mismatch, a changed access state, or claim-level review would trigger a dated editorial update.
Only NTRS metadata and abstract are open here; full-text methods and results were unavailable for this pass. Inclusion is contextual discovery support, not automatic evidence for a GShips claim.
Source-supplied titles, abstracts, authors, and dates may require correction against the canonical full text.
What would change this page?
A newer or corrected version, retraction, verified duplicate, material topic mismatch, changed access state, or claim-level assessment would change this record.
People, review, and conflicts
Prepared by
GShips Project
Editorial status
metadata-curated-editorial-draft
Editorial reviewer
GShips Project editorial synthesis
Last editorial review
No editorial-review date recorded
Independent review
pending
Independent reviewer
No independent reviewer assigned
Last independent review
No independent-review date exists
Last content edit
Not recorded separately
Official source or link verified
2026-07-25
Declared conflicts
The maintainer intends to explore a commercial venture based on some GShips work. No entity, outside funding, customer, sponsor, or indexed-organization relationship currently exists.