Posted on 06/13/2020 8:38:36 AM PDT by Kaslin
Never say never.
I could see a robotic spaceship going to the asteroid belt, finding a suitable metallic asteroid, and towing it to earth orbit using ion thrusters.
Nope! After the current crop of Communist Luddites take over, you’ll be lucky to find a library - let alone a book. And space will be listed as endangered and saved for the children. “Idiocracy” did not have a space program and neither will the US
When has the military voluntarily ceded strategic high ground?
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It just cede the entire US to Communists so no biggy on space.
“Can’t even sit on the toilet sometimes.”
Government mostly contracts out acquisition of goods and services. Space should not be any different.
That old hackneyed meme only applies to dragging a small amount of stuff down a gravity well - stuff mined in space will be used to build stuff in space and be very cost effective.
Space will be both militarized and colonized. National sovereignties will be
asserted regardless of any puny agreements from 50-60 years ago.
There will be blood on the moon.
We were there first and we planted our flag. We own it.
Inner city minority groups and inferior nations are all upset about our going back to the moon and the expanse of our solar system as explorers and conquerors because it means that we are leaving them and their self generated social decay and their screwed up culture behind to rot.
My wife calls it the “Van Halen belt”.
Notice that none of these modern space missions seem to go past it....
Uh.....NO!
Even Gold/platinum are not worth the cost to get there, mine it, and return to earth.
Okay everyone go home, self proclaimed expert G Larry has said never and Um no.
Feel free to show us your cost/benefit analysis to support your claims.
Then u have no idea what you are saying. Don’t u understand that to mine stuff in space the people would have to live there? They are certainly not going to go to the expensive trouble of dragging stuff they need up the well.
Its the “return to Earth” part that is expensive - What if they don’t return it to Earth but build in space? And you are basing your argument on today’s tech. What about tomorrow’s?
Ask Elon Musk what the price per pound was to get the Dragon and crew to the ISS.
Let's imagine that 20 years from now we've reduced that cost by 90%.
Then pick a number of pounds necessary to achieve the capability you suggest.
Remember, you're talking about mining to manufacturing, assuming all the raw materials will accessible in space.
Have to agree. The expense would make deep water oil and mineral extraction (the sea bottom is a largely unexplored treasure trove) seem like plugging a $1.00 tap into the ground and having oil and platinum gush out. And until we start building cities in Antarctica I have the same doubts about Mars ever becoming a real backup plan. That does NOT mean we shouldn’t explore for the sake of pure science and the expansion of human knowledge. But no one should expect to make a direct profit in the effort.
UR still imagining all of this comes up from Earth in the first place - you start with robot mining to build the basics n build the habitat - people come, more mining more people - vacation on Earth, live in space. Go to the stars one day, or finish Project Orion and go tomorrow.
There was no good cost benefit analysis for Magellan or Columbus so they, by ur logic, should have stayed home and become navel gazers or lawyers.
#18 The insectoids will then evolve and take over and start mining the asteroids and then be wiped out then repeat with whatever evolves after that.
I plan to become rich by selling picks and shovels to the astroid miners...
also space whiskey and flapjack powder.
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