Space/Science — HabitableZone

Space/Science » in reply to Interstellar travel

re: Interstellar travel
TB — (archived)

If you make a generation ship large enough, stable enough, and comfortable enough to keep many generations of a large human population healthy and happy, the real problem is going to be getting the final generation to give it up to live on the unstable surface of an alien planet. It's as though a population that's been living for years on the largest most luxurious cruise liner in the world is shown an empty beach and invited to make their new homes there.

Odds are they would hit the asteroid belt or its equivalent and start building more space colonies instead.

And guess what: they could do that without leaving the Solar System.

In fact, if the ships are capable of providing power and sustenance in deep space for hundreds of years, there may not be any real reason to stay in a solar system at all except for resupply, and maybe satisfying an exploratory curiosity.

How's that for an unintended consequence?

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