could we build (or rebuild) a planet with asteroids?

[R1]

I don't understand how heat radiation could be a difficulty, If there's no use for the heat to dispose, couldn't<br />it easily radiate on the night side of the asteroid?<br /><br /> As for moving any asteroid worth having closer to earth, I think the mass would be too much of a problem,<br />requiring so much fuel, even for small ones like 243-Ida's moon Dactyl.<br /><br />Juno, for example, is about 3 x 10^15 kg, wouldn't we need more than all the fuel used by a shuttle launch to<br />bring this much mass to an orbit close to us?<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[vandivx]

what is talked about here on this thread implies civilization very much more technically and industrially developped than is currently the case and how did we get to the stage where we are now, certainly not by avoiding building roads in order to preserve swamps etc., on the contrary <br /><br />and we won't get to next stage of industrial/technical development by putting biosphere and sustainable development first<br /><br />by which I am not saying that such goals (as unrealistic as they actually may be which is not the point here) demand destroying Earth because all that talk about Earth going 'extinct' or exhausted is simply bolock and I let it rest at that because this is not the place to argue that<br /><br />I think by now we might have been if not exactly whizzing about in rockets ala Buck Roger's vision then at least ocupying the Moon and Mars if western world wasn't gripped by socialism after some initial fifty years of very successfull capitalism in the late nineteenth and very early twentieth centuries which then bore fruit in nineteen sixties in the form of first cosmic exploration which was inevitably smothered by fast encroaching socialism and which has today transformed and settled on us in the guise of 'green' ideology with its false fear for Earth and for its denizens, the people<br /><br />its nice to see some brave speculations such as those taken up on this thread never mind as I said how unrealistic they may be, <br />I am just pointing out the contradictions that strike me when I look at the bigger picture with which I can see you won't agree but others may, that's why I thought to point it out<br /><br />vanDivX <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[R1]

interesting, <br /><br />thanks.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[tdamskov]

<blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr /><p>and we won't get to next stage of industrial/technical development by putting biosphere and sustainable development first "<p><hr /></p></p></blockquote><br /><br />Actually, that is just what we need to do and there's no reason to believe it's impossible. The motivation for colonizing space is in many ways related to the fact that Earth itself is a limited place which can't forever support a growing population. This is not ideology, it's simple mathematics. The Earth is big, but it's not infinite. Learning to manage the population and available resources will be absolutely fundamental to colonizing space where resources will be very limited locally and the physical environment unforgiving.<br /><br /><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr /><p>..which was inevitably smothered by fast encroaching socialism and which has today transformed and settled on us in the guise of 'green' ideology with its false fear for Earth and for its denizens, the people <p><hr /></p></p></blockquote><br /><br />Now, if you'll wipe the the foam off your lips, I'll kindly educate you to the fact that supporting a sustainable living has absolutely nothing to do with socialism. It's about common sense. Or perhaps you'll tell me the USSR were environmentalists?<br /><br />Interestingly, a hypothetical asteroid habitat clearly outlines problems which we'll have to deal with on Earth anyway - and a host of new ones as well.<br /><br />Enlarge the population and you need to increase the efficiency of your agricultural output, and your energy and resource utilization. One solution is to import your needs from somewhere else. But if said asteroid needs to be self sufficient (supply lines are thin in outer space) there is a limit to how long you can keep increasing efficiency or industrial output - it's a very challenging mix of engineering and sociological problems, and both areas need to be addressed.