K
kelvin_zero
Guest
Hi, Are there any estimates on how close we are to being able to build a robot factory on the moon that is advanced enough to build more robots from almost entirely moon resources?<br /><br />What interests me most is the possibility of exponential growth of industrial ability at zero additional cost after the initial investment.<br /><br />Simplistically, If a robot factory could duplicate all it's components in a year then it could increase itself a thousandfold in a decade, a millionfold in two decades, and soon the moon would be one big solar powered construction yard. You could upload new designs to the moon over the internet. You could build massive habitats before you bothered to send people. Building a magnetic launcher would be trivial with all the moons resources. We could start building all those 1960s style space habitats on whim. Exponential growth is just cool and even scary.<br /><br />What is the current state of play of this sort of technology? any estimates on how close we are or how big the first factory would have to be, or how long it would take to double in scale?