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> "Bezos laid out his vision for lunar settlement...after he received the National Space Society’s Gerard K. O’Neill Memorial Award." Kind of ironic really. Be

> "Bezos laid out his vision for lunar settlement...after he received the National Space Society’s Gerard K. O’Neill Memorial Award." Kind of ironic really. Bezos wants to settle the Moon and Musk wants to settle Mars, but as O'Neill himself pointed out 40 years ago, the best place to build human settlements in free space, not the surface of a planet (or moon). What we should be doing is retrieving a near Earth asteroid and mining it to build Bernal Spheres: http://space.nss.org/national-space-society-gerard-k-oneill-memorial-award/ http://space.nss.org/national-space-society-gerard-k-oneill-...

ksec 8y ago
But how are we going to find all the materials to build O'Neill cylinders? There will need to be a Von Braun City somewhere, or near the landing site of Apollo 11.
kamaal 8y ago
I thought this part should have been pretty clear by now. Sending things down a gravity well never really makes much sense at all even from a long term perspective. Space real estate and resources are enormous enough to a point you could to start with building wonderlands to settle billionaries there, and eventually may be lift out common people out and have them live in permanent settlements. For some reasons Asteroid mining never gets the kind of traction in any mainstream space work. Though the returns are just bonkers compared to anything you might invest at this point in time.
ciconia 8y ago
> Kind of ironic really. No, what's ironic is the best piece of real-estate for all life is right under our feet, no space ship necessary.
- perilunar 8y ago
  Sure it is, right up until either a) we ruin it, or b) the universe decide to throw an large asteroid at us and wipes us all out.
- dwaltrip 8y ago
  Yes, and 7 billion people are using it. Are you really surprised or annoyed that a few members of a curious and novelty-seeking species want to explore the great beyond?

ksec 8y ago

But how are we going to find all the materials to build O'Neill cylinders? There will need to be a Von Braun City somewhere, or near the landing site of Apollo 11.

kamaal 8y ago

I thought this part should have been pretty clear by now. Sending things down a gravity well never really makes much sense at all even from a long term perspective. Space real estate and resources are enormous enough to a point you could to start with building wonderlands to settle billionaries there, and eventually may be lift out common people out and have them live in permanent settlements. For some reasons Asteroid mining never gets the kind of traction in any mainstream space work. Though the returns are just bonkers compared to anything you might invest at this point in time.

ciconia 8y ago

> Kind of ironic really. No, what's ironic is the best piece of real-estate for all life is right under our feet, no space ship necessary.

perilunar 8y ago
Sure it is, right up until either a) we ruin it, or b) the universe decide to throw an large asteroid at us and wipes us all out.
dwaltrip 8y ago
Yes, and 7 billion people are using it. Are you really surprised or annoyed that a few members of a curious and novelty-seeking species want to explore the great beyond?