Space/Science — HabitableZone

Space/Science » in reply to Quite right, but.....

You Have A Point But
Mark Eby — (archived)

Launching a single pound into space from Earth costs $1500 to $5000 per pound. That implies paying over $1000 for delivery of a quarter pounder with cheese. Without vast improvements in propulsion technology, it simply isn't economically feasible to talk about colonizing any destination that requires importing a large portion of the resources you need to live there.

I think a Martian colony which has a shot because it can be self supporting will serve as a major driver for propulsion improvements just like the American colonies did for shipping. In time the Moon and the asteroids will become attractive targets as the costs to reach them and return drop.

I believe Earth is likely to reach a pinch point where it needs the resources in space as it uses up the ones up here, but can't afford to reach them for the same reason unless there are self sustaining colonies to drive down the costs of space transport before then.

Regards,
Mark

Log in or register to post.

The whole thread (43 posts)