THE CREW
We will assume that this interstellar vessel is equipped with highly automated systems. Though not attaining the sophistication of a 'von Neumann probe' [ref. 1], these systems will nonetheless be capable of self-monitoring and autonomous repair. With this level of automation in power, life support, food production and other critical functions, smaller crew sizes become practical. One benefit of this automation is the time available for research and experimentation during the mission.
Crew Size
The social dynamics of small groups, staffing requirements, and long term population growth must be considered before establishing initial crew size. Too small a group may create understaffing during a crisis situation. Social variety, necessary for individual fulfillment, is dependent on the number of available social contacts. A crew of thirty or less may be incapable of providing this social variety. On the other hand too large of a group may create control problems for the leadership and may contribute to runaway birth rates.
For this discussion, our crew size will total one hundred people: forty men, forty women and 20 children. Because we will need a young healthy crew for the start of this mission, the adults will be between 21 and 26 years old. The children will range from five to ten years old. There are positive and negative aspects regarding the inclusion of children at the beginning of this mission. On the negative side, children require a great deal of time and attention, something that may be scarce early in the mission. They must also be educated, requiring the dedication of crewmembers to this task.
On the positive side, these children represent the first of the next generation of adult crewmembers. This reduces the need for females to produce offspring almost immediately after the mission begins. It could be argued that the stresses involved in pregnancy and childbirth would outweigh those associated with raising children. The inclusion of children will also create a social structure closer to the mix of peoples on Earth. It has been speculated that this inclusion of the family structure early in this mission will provide social stability to the crew. [Ref. 4]
The 'von Nueman probe' is a self-reproducing universal constructor, capable of making any device, given the materials and construction programs.
THE SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT
The crew of an interstellar vessel embarking on a long duration mission will enter a microsociety which will have its own rules, benefits and hardships. Analogous to air-born seedpods of terrestrial plants, this social pod will take the elements of humanity into the galaxy. The remoteness of an interstellar crew possesses special problems for mission planners, particularly in the area of the projects organizational and management structure.
Leadership
Almost all of the space efforts by the USA and the USSR have used military personnel to staff the missions. The use of a military organizational and management structure has proved successful in almost 100% of these missions, especially in those missions where crises has occurred. This military authority structure may not work however, for a crew made up of non-military personnel.
It is probable that on a multi-decade mission, the authority structure in place at the outset of the mission may have been completely abandoned for an alternate style later. The isolation, confinement and risk of long duration missions may prove to undermine authority structures and increase demands on the leaders. In addition there is the issue of a multi-generational crew coming of age on an interstellar vessel. The challenge will be to instill a commitment to the mission.
Regardless of whether a military based model or a community democracy model is used, each has advantages and disadvantages of its own. No one model will work the best for all situations. As mankind populates the Solar System, novel alternatives may evolve which may be better adaptable to interstellar travel.
The Life Cycle
Unlike most space efforts today, the drama of the life cycle will be a predominant part of the Centauri project. Birth, aging and death will be present as will the many anomalies associated with the process. As the population expands, crime will likely exist, perhaps even murder; requiring social systems to be in place to deal with events which could effect the performance of the crew. The existence of marriage and the family unit also presupposes the existence of divorce. The practicality of divorcing a spouse in such a closed society is an unknown factor, but it will certainly require contingency planning.
Unique to this type of mission is the simple act of living out a life in space. The day-to-day activities and demands of mental, physical and social maturation must be dealt with in addition to responsibilities of a crewmember on the mission. An aside to this life cycle is the unprecedented fact that humans will be born with lives totally disassociated from the planet Earth. For those crewmembers born as part of the first-generation 'Centauri's, the microplanet serving as their starship may well be all they will know of life.
Space travel, particularly long duration missions, involves the sacrifice of personal freedoms. For those individuals born aboard the Centauri vessel another basic freedom will be lost - free choice of a profession. Because the vessel and systems must be maintained, many positions must be manned for the entire length of the mission. This means that replacements must be trained for the original crew, requiring a portion of the descendants to be selected for a specific function. The process and timing of this selection may best be left to social norms developed within the society.
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