Nyrath Posted January 7, 2010 Report Share Posted January 7, 2010 Re: Nova? True, but there will be some form of government supervision. This will be for the same reason the government generally does not allow corporations to own thermonuclear warheads. I discuss this here: http://www.projectrho.com/rocket/rocket3t.html#orbit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RexMundi Posted January 7, 2010 Report Share Posted January 7, 2010 Re: Nova? Yeah, but those guys are SMART, and have already hired all the people that are actually good at fighting, to work for THEM. Only in a James Cameron movie, are the corporate guys mentally deficient. Most likely have Richard Marcinko on retainer. ~Rex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted January 7, 2010 Report Share Posted January 7, 2010 Re: Nova? Only in a James Cameron movie' date=' are the corporate guys mentally deficient. [/quote'] Hmm ... my limited foray into the commercial sector led me to encounter lots of Dilbertian mentally deficient upper-management types. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted January 7, 2010 Report Share Posted January 7, 2010 Re: Nova? "Reality-challenged," as it were. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RexMundi Posted January 7, 2010 Report Share Posted January 7, 2010 Re: Nova? Some parts of it may be Reality challenged, but then, you can only argue so many fine points with something at the top of the food chain, before it eats you. ~Rex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted January 7, 2010 Report Share Posted January 7, 2010 Re: Nova? Witness GM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lawnmower Boy Posted January 7, 2010 Report Share Posted January 7, 2010 Re: Nova? Yeah, but those guys are SMART...... ~Rex Oh, sweet baby Cylon Jesus, Rex. You should go into stand up. Unless you were being serious.... And before anyone goes basing their futurology on Jerry Pournelle, I have a book you need to read, name of Fallen Angels. There's just a tiny gap between "what you want to happen," and "what will happen." As for mining asteroids, the question isn't what the material is worth, it is "when will it be worth less per ton than the same ore mined on Earth?" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nyrath Posted January 7, 2010 Report Share Posted January 7, 2010 Re: Nova? Well, the main obstacle to the development of a strong space infrastructure is the lack of anything valuable enough to make it worthwhile. For SF novels, I call such a resource "Maguffinite." In Larry Niven's PROTECTOR, the Maguffinite is magnetic monopoles. It has to be something valuable that is not available on Earth. Say a substance that can cure male pattern baldness or be the perfect weight-loss treatment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RexMundi Posted January 7, 2010 Report Share Posted January 7, 2010 Re: Nova? How about something simple then such as (this is assuming one has something good like workable Fusion for example), Helium 3 is the best fuel for said power process and it's readily available laying around like Dirt, out there Space ways? That's before all the things like Power production and manufacturing and things such as that. There IS profit up there. ~Rex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RexMundi Posted January 7, 2010 Report Share Posted January 7, 2010 Re: Nova? Oh, sweet baby Cylon Jesus, Rex. You should go into stand up. Unless you were being serious.... And before anyone goes basing their futurology on Jerry Pournelle, I have a book you need to read, name of Fallen Angels. There's just a tiny gap between "what you want to happen," and "what will happen." As for mining asteroids, the question isn't what the material is worth, it is "when will it be worth less per ton than the same ore mined on Earth?" Aww....come on you don't get to be Gigantic forces of Industry whose mere minor actions effect the economies of countries and big chunks of the world because everyone that makes it work, all has to wear a sign handed to them by Bill Engvall right? ~Rex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sundog Posted January 7, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2010 Re: Nova? How about something simple then such as (this is assuming one has something good like workable Fusion for example), Helium 3 is the best fuel for said power process and it's readily available laying around like Dirt, out there Space ways? That's before all the things like Power production and manufacturing and things such as that. There IS profit up there. ~Rex WE need a LOT more than just "workable Fusion" before He3 becomes valuable. He3 Fusion is to us what regular controlled fusion reactions were to Einstein in 1908. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RexMundi Posted January 7, 2010 Report Share Posted January 7, 2010 Re: Nova? True but if the Singularity people are right, then that's gonna happen in what, 15 minutes? ~Rex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prestidigitator Posted January 9, 2010 Report Share Posted January 9, 2010 Re: Nova? It's kind of a chicken-and-egg problem if you ask me. We need to create an economy in space before the resources collected there become truly valuable. Why? Because there isn't the cost of overcoming the difference in energy between orbit and Earth's surface to dramatically decrease the return on investment. But creating a space-bound economy is going to take moving up a lot more than simple mining equipment, and it's an initial cost that isn't going to appeal to most businesses (or, by simple extension, governments), who mainly look at short-term profit.... Maybe something'll come along to prove that wrong though. Hmm. Gigantic inductors used to convert the kinetic energy of falling magnetic ore to electrical energy.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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