Enjoyed this lovely quote from Wired magazine about a private company that wants to open a human settlement on Mars:
“Why should people live on Mars? And if it’s going to be done, should a private enterprise engage in what would be one of humanity’s defining moments?”
The article brings up the old UN bombast about space existing for all humanity. Makes me think if the UN had been around a few thousand years ago we’d have this scenario: exploration and use of the oceans shall be carried out for the benefit and in the interest of all countries. End result? Everyone remains in place except for a few connected bureaucrats. We need off this planet, if only to ensure humankind’s survival. The threshold for the technology of mass murder quickly falls year by year. Sows the seeds of humanity outward, and at least some people may escape. Only private enterprise will make it happen other than as a TV moment.
It’s hard to make a profit when the cost per kilogram just to get into low Earth orbit is on the order of $5,000–and that’s just for small, unmanned satellites.
Note that this is not an endorsement of public works projects by any means. I just think that travel in space is going to have to wait until some future date when living standards have improved significantly.
Economist Stephen Landsburg, in his book Fair Play, conservatively estimates that in approximately 600 years the average person will have wealth equivalent to Bill Gates or Richard Branson.
At that point I can imagine that taking a weekend orbital flight with the family (or maybe a ride up the space elevator) might be equivalent to today’s trucking the boat out to the lake for a couple days of waterskiing.
That Stephen Landsburg sure is a genius. I’ll take his every word as truth.
And your stance on Mars is wrong. If you only knew.
Thats some forceful argumentation you got, there, bud.
Apropos my first comment: this article.