Posted on 08/21/2005 6:56:53 PM PDT by KevinDavis
Launch industry revenue was just $2.8 billion worldwide last year according to the Satellite Industry Association. Pathetic. That is just five thousandths of one percent of the global $55-trillion economy. In contrast, we just had a highway bill authorizing federal spending of nearly $50 billion a year on roads for the US alone. Subsidizing space like the highway system would be a good idea (see “Don’t wait for cheap orbital access”, The Space Review, April 25, 2005). But at this point, doubling or tripling launch activity could be achieved by a remarkably small portion of the economy’s income.
If space enthusiasts starting donating a portion of their estate to a foundation that would use it to subsidize space access, launches would rise. How many will join Elon Musk in calling for the colonization of Mars? I, of course, prefer the Moon (see “Colonize the Moon before Mars”, The Space Review, September 7, 2004.) Both will take a bunch of money on an individual scale, but next to nothing on a global scale. $100 billion a year would probably accomplish both. US baby boomers had about $362,000 each back in 1998. By the time they die around 2035, on average, they will probably each pass on an estate worth a million or more. In 2001, bequests to charities were $16 billion, which was about 29% of the net worth of the people who made the bequests.
(Excerpt) Read more at thespacereview.com ...
Nobody is going to colonize outer space. There might be a monastery on Mars in less than a century, but nothing more. Likewise, no corporation with the wherewithal is going to set aside $20 billion for twenty years just to move its mining/refining industry into outer space.
The reason? Lack of private property rights.
The property rights treaty is going to be ignored and wither away....
The Treaty ought to be done away with. Do it clean, not like the American West was settled.
I prefer how the American West was settled....
I wouldn't mind being on your space ping list, if that is at all possible.
Thanks.
Grant screwed up. Worst Pres of all time. When Congress finally got around to closing the West to mining and entry officially, they left a bunch of disgruntled people, many of whose greatgrandchildren still feel the same. Take the temperature of Alaskans. Same thing will happen in outer space. They could do it right in the first place.
Space will be colonized...by the Chinese. The have a population problem and a growing industrial base. We have compassionate conservatism.
Could I be on your ping list?
Ans; Living on the Moon or worse Mars..
** Three important things about real estate. Location, Location, LOCATION..
Who knows...
One minor problem: where there's property, there's government involvement. Where there's government involvement, there's military or para-military involvement. Where there's military or para-military involvement, other nations get nervous and arm their outbound military and para-military contingents even more. Got a mini-arms race going...and both sides get twitchy. And when people get twitchy and the inevitable catastrophic accident occurs (as they will in space), international crises immediately follow...only now it's international and interplanetary.
Consider how quickly that would spiral out of control...especially if we're on Mars butting heads with the Chinese.
That's why there ain't ever gonna be private property in space.
If we had continued our pace with the Apollo program, I'm convinced we would have had remote-controlled gliders on Mars in time for the 100-year anniversary of aviation. And there is no doubt that we would have had a year-round staffing of a lunar base by 1984 at the latest.
But that's just my opinion.
And that is why there will never be space development or space settlements. We're stuck on earth forever or until we burn the place down whichever comes first.
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