Unfortunately, much of what people believe about war in space has been shaped, or misshaped, by Hollywood and other forms of popular media. In this book a STEM educator and a political science professor team up to explore the possibilities for warfare in space and explain why almost everything you've learned about space wars from movies is disappointingly wrong. The truth is stranger and more interesting than fiction. Using history, politics and STEM as guides, this book provides a detailed account of how Earth's first war in space will be fought. As we show, it will begin not as an invasion of Earth by super-advanced aliens but by Earth starting a war with its Martian colony.

Chapter 1: The Motives for Colonization: How to Not Go Broke Accumulating Money

Chapter 2: The Boogey Man in the Dark: Fear of Flying Rocks

Chapter 3: The Gravity Well: Defining the High Ground

Chapter 4: Space Mining: a Lesson in the Periodic Table of Wealth

Chapter 5: Humans or Humanoids: Why People are a Bargain

Chapter 6: Terraforming: A Critical Step in the Recipe for Making Martians

Chapter 7: Energy Production: the Nuclear and Solar Options

Chapter 8: Manufacturing on Mars: A Means of Taming Nature for Survival

Chapter 9: The One-Way Trip: Who Goes to Mars Stays on Mars

Chapter 10: The Inevitable Sources of Conflict: Lies, Misunderstandings, and Taxation Without Representation

Chapter 11: Earthlings Prepare to Invade: Going to War by the Public Transportation System

Chapter 12: Collaborators, Spies, and Panic: Nothing Focuses the Mind Like the Hangman's Noose

Chapter 13: Hollywood Strikes Back: Why the WW II Aircraft Carrier Model Doesn't Work for Outer Space Battles

Chapter 14: Stealth: The Key to Survival?

Chapter 15: Arming the Resistance: They're Coming for Us, Break out the Printers

Chapter 16: Earth Invades Mars: A Strategic Overview

Chapter 17: Physical and Cyber Counterattacks: Don't Mess with a Martian He Might Throw Rocks at You

Chapter 18: Negotiations and Aftermath: What to Do with the Tories?