March 12, 2025
K-State Salina professors team up to publish a book on how humans can survive in space
Submitted by Randall K. Nichols
A team of K-State professors has published a book that explores space and how future life can survive it.
“Survival in Space,” is work that encompasses food production and dining in space, microbe killers in space, space psychology, and AI, space radiation and risk to humans, laws for space, advanced manufacturing and materials in space, space battles, competitive space and sovereignty, robotics in space, supply chains in space exploration, and designing a habitat on Mars.
The book provides the framework for the golden age to be realized by explaining how next-generation technologies and advances in human exploration will contribute to the renewed emphasis of space exploration by the current U.S. President’s administration.
Authoring “Survival in Space” includes Randall Nichols, K-State Salina senior professor in the aerospace cyber operations graduate certificate and space systems and operations graduate certificate; Mark James-Jackson, professor and graduate faculty at K-State Salina; and Michael Oetken, K-State Salina assistant professor and graduate faculty.
Meanwhile, Debbie Mercer, K-State College of Education dean, wrote the foreword to “Survival in Space” and Joseph Puntoriero, a graduate student in space systems and operations, and Valerie Young, a graduate student, also contributed to publishing the book.