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Generation Ships--- Can we build one now?
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<blockquote data-quote="Hussar" data-source="post: 7571778" data-attributes="member: 22779"><p>Well, no, that's true. I haven't actually crunched the numbers. But, I'm pretty sure that harvesting near Earth objects for resources for the next million years (and yes, that's how much there actually IS in near Earth orbit) is probably a whole lot cheaper than building a several million tonne spaceship capable of continuous travel for thousands of years. </p><p></p><p>Are you seriously suggesting that a generation ship's primary mission would be <em>exploration</em>? Really? I can think of a thousand ways to explore for a fraction of the investment that would give as good or better results than a generation ship.</p><p></p><p>So, no, I don't think the objections are hollow. They are realistic. The real problem is that people who have devoted so much time to science fiction often have incredibly unrealistic views of space. A single nickel-iron asteroid in near Earth orbit has more iron in it than we have mined in all of human history. And there are literally thousands of these objects in orbit. </p><p></p><p>Why are we building asteroid colonies in the asteroid belt? If we have that level of technology, why not just deorbit that asteroid into Earth's orbit and mine it here? Saves tons of time, expense and effort. Is it less romantic? Sure. But, reality often is.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Hussar, post: 7571778, member: 22779"] Well, no, that's true. I haven't actually crunched the numbers. But, I'm pretty sure that harvesting near Earth objects for resources for the next million years (and yes, that's how much there actually IS in near Earth orbit) is probably a whole lot cheaper than building a several million tonne spaceship capable of continuous travel for thousands of years. Are you seriously suggesting that a generation ship's primary mission would be [i]exploration[/i]? Really? I can think of a thousand ways to explore for a fraction of the investment that would give as good or better results than a generation ship. So, no, I don't think the objections are hollow. They are realistic. The real problem is that people who have devoted so much time to science fiction often have incredibly unrealistic views of space. A single nickel-iron asteroid in near Earth orbit has more iron in it than we have mined in all of human history. And there are literally thousands of these objects in orbit. Why are we building asteroid colonies in the asteroid belt? If we have that level of technology, why not just deorbit that asteroid into Earth's orbit and mine it here? Saves tons of time, expense and effort. Is it less romantic? Sure. But, reality often is. [/QUOTE]
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