Will we find another planet or run out of space? (fence, how much)
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For money there's microgravity & high vacuum manufacturing, mining regolith & looking for other ores, maybe exotic materials (from solar & cosmic ray irradiation, for instance), materials science & engineering. There's also gathering solar energy for local use, maybe beaming any extra to other sites or back to Earth. The moon would be convenient for basing further exploration into the solar system & the asteroid belt, out to the Van Allen radiation belts, & so on.
...true Southwest88, there are opportunities to mine major resources in space. I believe once we figure out a way to tow back asteroids back to earth, we'll discover that they hold great amounts of heavy metals. These heavy metals will tend to be coalesced all into the same area (in the center) from centrifugal forces as the asteroid would have been in space spinning for ages.
Yah, Star Trek was great fun, Wagon train in space, basically (Roddenberry wrote for Paladin, other Western TV shows, some police TV & so on).
...
Sorry, not Paladin (that was the character's alias? title?), it was Have gun - will travel. A favorite, very compact writing. & I was fond of Richard Boone's work - like his Smaug in the animated version of The Hobbit, Rankin-Bass, for TV, ages ago.
...true Southwest88, there are opportunities to mine major resources in space. I believe once we figure out a way to tow back asteroids back to earth, we'll discover that they hold great amounts of heavy metals. These heavy metals will tend to be coalesced all into the same area (in the center) from centrifugal forces as the asteroid would have been in space spinning for ages.
Yah. I don't know that it makes sense to tow asteroids to Earth, unless they're already nearby or passing nearby. Depending on scale & mass & orbital mechanics, it might make more sense to push refining & possibly even manufacture out to the site, & merely move the semi-finished or finished product to its end-use point. Even with cheap energy, given the distances & timescales involved, you'd still want low-energy pathways, as much as possible.
Asteroids & heavy metals - depends on where/how they formed. Hydrogen is the most common in the universe - heavy metals are typically formed in stars, then expelled in novas or supernovas. Given that, I would expect that moving towards galactic center would yield the most heavy metals, but there are likely lumps of ejecta here & there.
Asteroids & heavy metals - depends on where/how they formed. Hydrogen is the most common in the universe - heavy metals are typically formed in stars, then expelled in novas or supernovas. Given that, I would expect that moving towards galactic center would yield the most heavy metals, but there are likely lumps of ejecta here & there.
...heavy metals are common here on earth. Platinum, Gold, Lead, etc., are all heavy metals. True, they are formed from stars however they are difficult to mine/extract because you have to go through many difficult processes (mining included) to obtain the raw element, and nobody knows where they all are.
However if you're getting these from asteroids they will all be in the same general area because the spinning/rotation of the asteroids would have coalesced them over the years.
...btw, a lot more elements besides the heavies are formed inside stars including Calcium, Sodium, Iron - major elements that make up your body!!! These are all ejected during supernovae
Last edited by HighSpeed; 11-02-2016 at 06:01 PM..
Reason: correcting gramar
Please share your thoughts...from the most skeptical to the most optimisticommon, and everything in between:-)
We made our bed now we have to lie in it. I think it is disgusting that rather than fix our inability to control ourselves so that we live within the limits of the planet, and share it with other life forms here in Earth, we would consider spreading ourselves out to other worlds. No doubt we would treat other lives on other planets with the same attitude of exploit the heck out of everything within reach because we believe in some false sense of entitlement.
My hope is that humans, as in the genus Homo Sapiens, will disappear and be replaced with a better species of hominid. And why not? There have been about eight species within the Homo genus already. And evolution is always looking to improve. Hopefully this new species does not suffer from the hubris, greed, and destructive behavior that humans possess.
We made our bed now we have to lie in it. I think it is disgusting that rather than fix our inability to control ourselves so that we live within the limits of the planet, and share it with other life forms here in Earth, we would consider spreading ourselves out to other worlds. No doubt we would treat other lives on other planets with the same attitude of exploit the heck out of everything within reach because we believe in some false sense of entitlement.
My hope is that humans, as in the genus Homo Sapiens, will disappear and be replaced with a better species of hominid. And why not? There have been about eight species within the Homo genus already. And evolution is always looking to improve. Hopefully this new species does not suffer from the hubris, greed, and destructive behavior that humans possess.
Unfortunately, the next dominant species is likely to be homo robotica.
That iPhone in your pocket will eventually be your boss.
We made our bed now we have to lie in it. I think it is disgusting that rather than fix our inability to control ourselves so that we live within the limits of the planet, and share it with other life forms here in Earth, we would consider spreading ourselves out to other worlds. No doubt we would treat other lives on other planets with the same attitude of exploit the heck out of everything within reach because we believe in some false sense of entitlement.
My hope is that humans, as in the genus Homo Sapiens, will disappear and be replaced with a better species of hominid. And why not? There have been about eight species within the Homo genus already. And evolution is always looking to improve. Hopefully this new species does not suffer from the hubris, greed, and destructive behavior that humans possess.
Given your attitude, how to you justify continuing your own human life?
We have a few problems to solve when it comes to deep space travel.
1) Energy. We need some kind of a quantum leap in energy tech. Burning the organic sludge from our own planet to make us go will not cut it.
2) Gravity. From what I've read about astronaut health, we simply can't stay in space weightless for long periods of time and remain healthy. It makes sense; our bodies are evolved to function properly in Earth's gravity. We either need to figure out artificial gravity (the energy problem) or build big centrifugal force ships to approximate it...and we're not sure what exposure to all that spinning would do to humans although there have been promising results with rats. We don't know if a human can survive more than 2 years in space... the longest anyone's gone is 473 days. Generally speaking 1 year or more is pretty bad for your health. If we tried a Mars mission, the total transit time would be about 2.5 years so it would be pushing the limit.
3) Radiation shielding. Cosmic rays are also very bad for your health. We need to figure out a way to shield humans from them that's more economical than tons of material. It all goes back to that energy problem.
Last edited by redguard57; 11-03-2016 at 08:00 AM..
Unfortunately, the next dominant species is likely to be homo robotica.
That iPhone in your pocket will eventually be your boss.
Could very well be. I tend to think that humans will become something else but it won't be through evolution it will be through genetic engineering. Of course that will be expensive so only the "haves" will have perfect babies. The "have nots" will be left out of the bio-revolution. Who knows where we are headed but I really think in 1000 or 2000 years it will be unrecognizable to us.
It was only later, after Atlantic crossings became routine, that the masses started to migrate west to the New World.
I think the same thing will happen in space. First the bold visionaries like Musk, Nasa, ESA, and the Russians will find ways to get humans to other planets, and especially to get mining equipment and asteroid harvesting robots out to the Moon and the Asteroid Belt.
I believe that the superpowers of the late 21st and into the 22nd Century will be those nations and groups of nations that get into outer space and find ways to commercialize it. The rest of us will be left behind, though we will benefit greatly from the tech and medical spinoffs, of course.
In my opinion, we need to stop screwing around and get serious with space, or we WILL be left behind.
...so with the recent innovations for technologies that will directly, or indirectly see us out further into space do you think we our chances of moving into another planet are slim, "so-so", or pretty darn good? This is of course before our population becomes toxic to our existence.
...just to make a statement on the bolded comment. Enough people are ready to move today! (see about Mars 1). What makes you think they're waiting for commercial opportunities.
Last edited by HighSpeed; 11-04-2016 at 01:16 AM..
Reason: punctuated sentence; added description
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