In this 53rd episode of Rabbit Hole of Research, Joe, Nick, and Georgia welcome guest Roland Pitts, author of Salvation Protocol, to discuss the monumental challenge of space arks and colonizing new worlds. Roland, a former army officer now working in cybersecurity, shares insights into his sci-fi thriller where aliens warn Earth of hostile forces, prompting a secret mission to select 1,000 people and 1,000 items to restart civilization on a new planet.
The conversation ranges from the practical, cryo-sleep technology, closed-loop ecosystems, genetic diversity, and propulsion systems, to the philosophical: Who decides who gets to board? How do you preserve culture, prevent class systems, and maintain law and order when resources aren’t scarce? What happens when the descendants of the original crew forget why they left Earth?
The group explores the cargo manifesto challenge, debating essential items from seed banks and medical equipment to cultural artifacts and personal mementos. They discuss the psychological horror of multi-generational travel, the role of AI (can you trust it?) in maintaining mission continuity, and whether humanity can survive the journey without becoming something unrecognizable. Along the way, they pepper in references to Wall-E, The Expanse, Interstellar, and classic generation ship literature, while sharing what they’d personally bring on their own space journey.
Check out Roland’s Book: Salvation Protocol
Follow Roland on Instagram
Check out what the RHR crew is creating:
Joe:
Red Line: Chicago Horror Stories Anthology featuring a new story by Joe!
Joe’s Sci-fi physiological thriller Novel: Will You Still Love Me If I Become Someone Else?
Essay by Joe: From Beyond Press: Specific Knowledge: Jotham Austin, II, PhD on Transformations in Fiction
Joe explores how many calories it would take to transform into monsters across sci-fi and horror—think 222 Big Macs and tubs of Cherry Garcia.
It’s Science for Weirdos
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We want to Hear From You (leave a comment):
If you were selected for a space ark mission, would you go, knowing you’d never return to Earth or see your loved ones again?
What two personal items would you bring with you on the journey? (Roland’s bringing My Chemical Romance, what’s on your playlist?)
If you had to build the crew, what essential profession do you think gets overlooked? How many scientists vs. farmers vs. artists would you take?
Can humanity survive the journey to the stars without destroying itself, or will we become something unrecognizable by the time we arrive?
Drop your thoughts in the comments. We read them all, and your ideas often shape future episodes.
Future Episodes & Events
Episode 54: What’s Love Got to Do With It?
Guest: Joe Compton
A deep dive into the science, psychology, and cultural myths of love. Exploring whether attachment is chemistry, storytelling, evolutionary strategy, or something stranger than fiction.
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Show Notes & Fun facts
Books & Literature Mentioned:
Salvation Protocol by Roland Pitts
Orphans of the Sky by Robert Heinlein
The Stand by Stephen King
Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson
Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky
The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin
Anne Frank’s Diary
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Matched by Ally Condie
World War Z by Max Brooks
Films & TV Mentioned:
Wall-E (2008)
Interstellar (2014)
Passengers (2016)
The Expanse (2015-2022)
Alien (1979) - featuring MU/TH/UR AI
When Worlds Collide (1951)
Pandorum (2009)
Event Horizon (1997)
The 100 (2014-2020)
Severance (Apple TV+)
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
GATTACA (1997)
Avengers: Endgame (2019)
The Thing (1982)
Uncle Buck (1989)
Pluribus (Apple TV+)
Space Arc Playlist:
Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge by My Chemical Romance (Roland’s choice)
Awaken, My Love by Childish Gambino (Nick’s choice)
Harold and Maude soundtrack (Georgia’s choice)
Portishead - Portishead or Dummy albums (Joe’s choice)
Fun Facts from the Episode
The Minimum Viable Population: Biologists estimate that 1,000 people is the absolute minimum needed for a healthy genetic founding population. Any fewer and you risk a genetic bottleneck where recessive traits amplify, leading to increased disease susceptibility and genetic disorders across generations.
Royal Hemophilia and Genetic Bottlenecks: The British Royal Family’s history of hemophilia demonstrates what happens when populations inbreed. Queen Victoria carried the gene, and through limited genetic diversity in European royalty, the bleeding disorder spread across multiple royal houses, a cautionary tale for any isolated population.
Women vs. Men and Reproductive Aging: Women are born with all their eggs, meaning environmental stressors throughout life affect those eggs. Men regenerate sperm from stem cells throughout their lives. However, as men age, mutations accumulate in those stem cells, meaning both sexes face reproductive challenges with age which is critical for multi-generational missions.
Scurvy, Rickets, and Vitamin Deficiencies: Scurvy (vitamin C deficiency) plagued sailors on long voyages, while rickets (vitamin D deficiency) affected cave miners. On a generation ship or new planet with different sunlight, managing nutritional deficiencies would be essential to survival.
Biosphere 2’s Lessons: The 1990s Biosphere 2 experiment attempted a closed-loop ecosystem in Arizona and largely failed: oxygen levels dropped, species died off, and social tensions exploded. It proved that creating self-sustaining ecosystems for even a few years is far harder than we thought, let alone for centuries-long space journeys.
Episode Highlights
00:00 - Welcome and introductions
The team welcomes Roland Pitts, former army officer and author of Salvation Protocol, to discuss space arks and colonizing new worlds.
00:13 - The concept of space arks
Joe introduces the challenge: “A space ark is different. It’s not exploration, it’s exodus.”
01:03 - The role of anxiety and preparation
The group discusses how military-style planning for every scenario can be a constructive life skill for handling uncertainty.
02:15 - Monologue on human exploration
Joe delivers the opening: “Every migration before now had one thing in common: somewhere to return to.”
03:32 - Introducing Salvation Protocol
Roland explains his novel’s premise: aliens warn Earth of hostile forces, and one person must secretly select 1,000 people and 1,000 items to restart civilization.
04:42 - Dragon Con and meeting Roland
Joe recounts meeting Roland at Dragon Con, where Roland’s cargo manifesto list immediately caught his attention.
05:33 - The cargo manifesto and essential items
Joe presents his 10-category list covering everything from biological assets to ethics and governance frameworks.
08:37 - Challenges of space colonization
The discussion turns to closed ecosystems, genetic diversity, and why 1,000 people is the bare minimum for survival.
10:56 - Selecting the right people for the mission
Roland reveals the recruitment challenge: if someone says no, they must be killed to protect the mission’s secrecy.
20:26 - Ethical and genetic considerations
The group debates age limits, reproductive viability, and whether older experts are worth the genetic trade-off.
30:53 - Inspiration behind Salvation Protocol
Roland shares how military field exercises and thinking about bare necessities sparked the novel’s concept.
36:49 - Class systems on a new planet
Discussion of how to prevent social hierarchies when neurosurgeons and construction workers must coexist as equals.
37:33 - Philosophical beliefs and free will
The team questions whether people can maintain individual philosophies or if fracturing into ideological groups is inevitable.
38:16 - Scarcity and economic systems
Joe argues that without scarcity economics in year one, class conflicts emerge later when trade and friction develop.
39:28 - Maintaining law and order
Roland discusses the challenge of justice when every person is hand-selected and irreplaceable: “We can’t just kick them out of society.”
41:19 - AI and human modification
Georgia raises concerns about AI control; Roland reveals the “bipa” implants that can kill unsuitable candidates.
43:14 - Book two and human nature
Roland teases the sequel will explore cult formation, group dynamics, and how humans fracture in isolation.
44:06 - Intelligent life forms and alien influence
Nick asks whether the new planet has indigenous life and if the aliens sterilized it…Roland stays cryptic.
49:00 - Preserving human culture and artifacts
The group discusses taking cultural artifacts like Anne Frank’s diary to teach future generations about morality and history.
55:35 - Personal items for the journey
Roland chooses My Chemical Romance’s Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge; Nick brings his Steam Deck; Georgia picks Harold and Maude; and Joe picks Portishead (Dummy or Portishead) and The Stand.
01:01:15 - Conclusion and final thoughts
Roland reflects: “The heart of Salvation Protocol is about who we become when everything is on the line.”
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