Independent-Cod3150 t1_ixbnkcu wrote on November 22, 2022 at 5:50 AM

Mars colonization is a ridiculous fantasy, but orbital and lunar mining and industry are likely in the next century. The point of mining the moon or asteroids is not to find resources that we lack on Earth, it is that those resources don't have to be launched from the Earth. With enough mining and manufacturing capacity in orbit we could build solar arrays and science experiments that just aren't possible on Earth. Particle accelerators to dwarf the LHC, laser interferometers that are many times longer and more sensitive than LIGO.

We could produce an entire new way of life that doesn't require polluting the Earth for every little luxury.

simcoder t1_ixbo7en wrote on November 22, 2022 at 5:57 AM

You still have the bootstrap problem though right?

Someone has to spend the trillions of dollars on the first refinery in space and then someone has to buy the super expensive materials that come out of that refinery. When all that stuff can just be blasted off the Earth for a fraction of the cost in quantities far exceeding the current demand for them.

It is a cool idea though. But I think you kind of need something approaching long term communism to make that possible. And we all know how that works out.