JABOL: A Space Odyssey

Just a taste of what we can accomplish together.

In 2001: A Space Odyssey, after our simian precursor hurls his bone into the air, we find ourselves in space, where amid satellites orbiting Earth, we catch our first glimpse of Space Station 5, a magnificent, rotating wheel.  JABOL, the space station in Dr. Gregory Benford’s novel, Jupiter Project, might not utilize the double-ring design as in Kubrick’s film, but Benford has clearly put a great deal of thought into engineering a place where mankind could live and work in space.  Over the course of the novel, the station becomes a character in its own right, one that the reader comes to care about, perhaps even love.

JABOL is short for Jovian Astronomical-Biological Orbital Laboratory.  Those who call it home refer to it as the Can or the Lab.  Indeed, the Lab resembles a can rotating in space, only the interior is hollow to allow for the docking and storage of shuttles and other spaceships.  Its central axis houses a telescope, facilities where Zero-G experiments can be conducted, and (perhaps equally important to its inhabitants) a Zero-G Squash court.  Numerous levels allot rooms for the Bridge, the Monitoring section (also known as the Hole), Administration, and various other offices.  Personnel live with their families in the housing level, and can compose tasty meals in their kitchens from the food grown in Hydroponics.  (Alternatively, food is available in the recreation room, where residents can eat with colleagues and friends).  Instead of a formal school, minors are taught by scientists in their labs, and receive one-on-one instruction from a computer personality named David in the Education Center.  (“Dave?  What are you doing, Dave?”)  While personal space may be limited, sufficient room has been set aside for an auditorium where the entire crew can gather as needs dictate.

The Can resides at the frontier of humanity’s current expansion into our solar system.  It follows a million kilometers behind Ganymede in its orbit around Jupiter.  Just like Space Station 5 in Kubric’s film, the Can serves as an effective transport hub, in this case for personnel and cargo traveling between Earth and the base on Ganymede.  In turn, the moon installation provides the Can with water from its ice fields, and meets numerous other needs faced by JABOL personnel during the thirteen-month intervals between visits by either Argosy or Rambler, the nuclear-powered ion rocketships that travel between it and the Earth.

Despite all that the Can contributes to science, its continued existence is endangered by a familiar foe: tightening budgets back on Earth.  Just as public fascination fell when Neil Armstrong set foot on Earth’s moon, popular interest in JABOL’s activities has dropped.  This time, however, the waning interest is due to failure rather than success.  After all the probes the Atmospheric Studies department has launched into Jupiter’s atmosphere, JABOL has yet to accomplish its primary mission: to find signs of alien life.  All who live and work on the Can understand the ethical arguments being deliberated back on Earth.  How can the World Council continue to pour money into the International Space Agency (which funds JABOL), when the basic needs of an ever-growing population rise every year?

Let's explore!

Humanity has achieved a taste of life in space with Skylab, Mir, and now the International Space Station.  Dr. Gregory Benford’s vision offers us so much more. JABOL affords its residents many comforts while giving them the opportunity to work on the frontiers of space, scientific research, and exploration.  Some, like our protagonist Matt Bowles in Jupiter Project, might argue that the human race needs to explore to ensure its continued survival.  A station like this could aid our understanding of the universe.  From it, we could learn how to live on other planets, and how to harness the tremendous resources that are out there waiting for us.  Ultimately, that knowledge and those resources could launch us to the distant stars.  Imagine all we could accomplish.

Dragon Dave