Departing Earth Forever

The Manual for Today's Colonists Preparing to Launch to Mars and Our Moon (Warning and Promise, Book 1)

By: Dennis Chamberland

Narrated by: Dennis Chamberland

The true, surprising contemporary story of the most daring human conquest in the history of our species—the epic evolving human colonization and settlement of other worlds of our solar system told in a captivating, engaging, and often humorous way by a 30-year NASA insider

"Spellbinding...game changing...a bold challenge to civilization's future." (Alan Stern, principal investigator, New Horizons Mission to Pluto; former NASA associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate)

Today, Elon Musk's SpaceX is building one human-rated reusable spacecraft every week designed to send 100 colonists to Mars on each voyage. With this brilliant plan, SpaceX aims to colonize the Red Planet, transporting colonists and millions of tons of cargo over 250 million miles of deep space, creating the first city on another world. This is not science fiction. These ships are in construction every day at a startling pace in order to make humanity a multiplanetary species, beginning this decade.

This is why Departing Earth Forever had to be created. It is the first manual written to and for Martian colonists—and for humankind back on the home planet witnessing this single most historic and momentous event in human history.

Departing Earth Forever is written by a former NASA Space Life Sciences Advanced Life Support Engineer who, for three decades, recorded the inside view of how this historic migration was envisioned in the world's most prestigious space exploration agency. And now, this historic migration to other worlds has been seized and reimagined by US private enterprise. This is the incredible, historic story of how humanity is now moving out to permanently colonize other worlds.

©2022 Dennis Chamberland (P)2022 Dennis Chamberland

Critic reviews

"Spellbinding…game changing…a bold challenge to civilization's future." (Alan Stern, Principal Investigator, New Horizons Mission to Pluto; Former NASA Associate Administrator, Science Mission Directorate)

Textbook for Spacefarers

I can’t wait to dig in and write my sci fi novel. I just wish I could be a bigger part of the beautifully spelled out future Dennis lays out before mankind. I hope Elon has this on his desk as he has a tendency to innovate faster than anyone. Thank you Dennis for this thorough, thoughtful compendium of scientific knowledge.

Simply Incredible & Direly Needed Series

I found this series after looking for books on human colonization of Mars. As someone who is dreaming and planning their whole life around the prospect of Martian colonization, I felt as if this book was written just for me. And I’m sure this is the feeling that many others like myself will have as well. The amount of thought and research that went into this book is simply incredible, and the credentials of the author back up every detail. Quite honestly I’m both surprised and honored to leave the first review of this audiobook. And I cannot wait to dig into book two of this series. I also want to go as far as to thank Dennis and Claudia Chamberland for all the time they put into this series. I’m certain this will be a valuable resource for generations to come.

The Survival Manual for the 21st Century Astronaut

In the not-so-distant future, indeed, perhaps even within the very near term, humanity will undoubtedly be setting their feet permanently upon alien worlds, whether Mars, Luna or even at the furthest reaches of our galaxy or others. This isn’t science fiction or a distant dream, but a reality and one that is ever nearer with each passing decade and every space related advancement/breakthrough.

But how prepared are we as a species to tackle this groundbreaking and monumental task that stands before us?

If you’re like me, prior to reading these two volumes from Dr. Dennis Chamberland, you may be inclined to believe that we are for the most part imminently ready and able to migrate across the stars and settle at will, with little to no issue and virtually no remaining problems to be solved.

However, having now read through (and thoroughly enjoyed) both of these essential volumes, I can safely admit how very wrong I was in my prior assumptions, and I wager most (if not all of us) have it wrong as well.

Thanks to the tireless and thorough writing of Dr. Chamberland, I feel like I am genuinely prepared and well informed with regard to the myriad issues and pitfalls and paradoxes that await anyone seeking fortune and future beyond our pale blue dot.

I won’t delve into too much detail here, as I would hardly do it justice, but suffice to say that these books really ought to be considered required reading for anyone who dreams of travel to the red planet or luna (or really anywhere beyond the safe haven of Earth), and especially those who dream of solving the various engineering problems and countless hurdles that stand between us here and the safe and sure settlement that awaits us in the future off-world.

Make no mistake, anyone who reads these books has a far greater chance of survival than any who do not. Bold words to be sure, but if you are anything like me dear fellow reader, you may be yearning for the stars, dreaming of floating in microgravity and yet, have no idea of the truly awful effects that microgravity actually poses for us all, not to mention other systems as well. And this is just one of the many potent lethal threats that await future space travelers/settlers.

I heartily commend Dr. Dennis Chamberland for penning and gifting us with such illuminating and inspiring texts as these here. Without question, his contribution to the world will save countless lives, and hopefully, with a bit of luck, we can avoid what he has coined “the body bag phase” altogether and pursue a unified effort of first principle space travel through and through, one that cherishes the value of human life above all else, rather than enterprise or technology and conquest above the individual life.

I also can’t recommend these books enough, and not just to those yearning to leave our planet, but really anyone who has a deep love for the history of Space and our human spirit of exploration as a whole. There is so much wonder and awe woven throughout these pages, and you can plainly see just how much love and reverence Dr. Chamberland has for Space and Humanity as a whole. He takes us on an odyssey through time and space (literally) covering everything from his budding childhood years dreaming of the stars, to his inspiring and revealing career at NASA, and even provides a thorough review of the history of human exploration — from Jamestown, VA to the Apollo-Era and beyond.

It’s not all roses and sunshine though, and this perspective is much appreciated to say the least, for the veil of naivety is finally cast aside, and we the readers are taken on a journey through many of the dark and unfortunate alleys of history both near and distant, all for the purpose of illustration and education, to learn from the errors and hubris of the past, and ultimately rise above it all by realigning our expectations of what lies ahead, and getting serious about solving the countless issues that lie ahead.

Here in Book One, Warning and Promise, that’s precisely what we get, a great deal of re-education and much needed critique of our past/present/future designs/plans for space exploration, as well as a good dose of hope and promise for the future as well.

It’s safe to say that if you have enjoyed the first book, “Warning and Promise” as much as I did, that you will undoubtedly be itching for the second book “Alien Worlds”. I can’t recommend that volume enough either. You can find my detailed review of that book on its respective review page.

In all though, I enjoyed the written copies of these so much that I ultimately purchased the Audible versions for each of them too to accompany the written texts, and I greatly enjoyed listening to each of them. They are narrated by Dr. Dennis Chamberland who has a very natural and pleasant voice throughout, and they even sport some fun sound effects peppered throughout to add some humor and emphasis on certain key moments. I think anyone seeking the Audible versions will be immensely pleased with the presentation and production quality throughout. And while the books certainly benefit from the included graphics and pictures, there is a companion site that this available for both volumes and will supplement any of the included graphics that would otherwise be only available in the printed editions, so there is no need to purchase both as I did, I simply love to have both on hand.

In conclusion, I truly believe the future of human space exploration (and really the future of humanity itself) hinges on people educating themselves and reading these books, as doing so could very well save countless lives, perhaps ultimately even the entire species at large. I learned so much throughout these volumes and my mind has been opened immensely to the truths and perils ahead that should be able to be disarmed and avoided altogether with relative ease once we get real and honest about the effects of GCR (Galactic Cosmic Radiation) and Micro/Partial Gravity perils, among countless other issues at hand.

I hope you fellow readers enjoy these books as much as I did, and who knows, perhaps you will be the one to solve some of these most pressing issues and become a 21st century space icon yourself in the process.

Hopefully it will be a round trip

We’ll written and accurate. I would hope NASA, OSHA, and the NCRP can find the time to offer their response to the seemingly iron clad ethical shortfalls discussed in this book.