dryson":20bw5rtm said:
Most people think that there is not any value in space what so ever but these people are wrong and fit in with the same group that once thought the world was flat and that the Earth was the center of creation and the Universe.
Here is a list of items in everyday use on Earth that create a business for operations on the Moon and Mars that would create two new markets as well as providing the funding to private space agencies and NASA. And for those that say that we are not returning to the Moon or continuing to fund space exploration so why don't you go ahead and and place yourself in the shallow end of the pool with the rest of uneducated people on this planet.
Here is a list that would create a business on both the Moon and Mars:
Masonry: We know that both the Moon and Mars has soil otherwisewe would be able to see the core of both planets. The soil from both planets can be used to create mortars,cement,bricks,concrete,blocks of all shapes and sizes to build with. The soil from both of these planets could also be used to grow crops once the possibility of foreign microbials hiding in the soil had been eleviated.
Mining: Mining both planets would yield large amounts of ore that when refined could be manufactured into the items: Jewelry, eating utensils, golf clubs, structural steels, automobile steels, manufacturing steels, welding electrodes, computer components, fishing hooks, hard currency in the form of coins, imagine that, various types of tools, adult novelty toys, picture frames, anything that os made out of steel here on the planet would be able to be out of the same ores from the Moon or Mars.
Water:There has been water found on both planets which could be made into drinking water here on the Earth .
Then there are the comets and asteroid fields of which we could also mine various ores and water from to create even more business oppurtunities.
I think your heart is in the right place. But I am not sure you are making a case for business in space and the business of space exploration with this post.
The first attempts that man will/should (whatever) make for exploring space is the old saying “because its there”, or, “because we are born explorers”, and probably not “we will make money”.
The items you list are not specifically cases for a business in space. For example mining is a classic one. Until there is a space elevator mining in space will not be profitable for Earth. Earth is vast, and there are a lot of resources here already. Landing mined ore on Earth will cost more than mining it here on Earth. Things like Gold, as time goes by, will become less and less valuable (except for materials for electronics) as our culture advances and currency changes.
Also a small correction, there is no soil anywhere else except here on Earth. There is regolith and dirt on other celestial bodies, but soil is only on Earth. Soil it self is full of life and that soil has only been manufactured on Earth by Earth as life has thrived on Earth. You can not just plant stuff on another planet. Soil will have to be made (and I suspect it will be far more valuable than gold on the first human colony).
The first human colonies will be a matter of human determination and simple hard headedness. We will make them because we will make them. There are reasons to make them; such as “you don’t want to have all your eggs in one basket” etc… It’s good to have life on more than one planet because we have seen planet wide catastrophes that have wiped out a big portion of life on this planet in the past and it’s likely we will see them again in the near future. So it makes sense to be in two places.
The first business in these human colonies will more than likely be software, or firmware as these colonies will be much more tech dependent than here on Earth. Computers, A.I. and various robots will probably be the first true imports to Earth. Possibly efficiency processes will also be imported to Earth, because humans will have to learn to live with less off Planet. Those same lessons can then be brought back to Earth to make life more efficient on Earth.
Mining, water, Masonry, and other things you mention will be opportunities that we will take advantage of once we have started a human colony in order to reduce the costs of that colony to a point when after a few decades that colony will become independent of Earth.
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