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Maybe this is the first visit to the future home of humanity, the Kuiper Belt. Vast lebensraum and resources for colonization. Not so much solar power, but we c

Maybe this is the first visit to the future home of humanity, the Kuiper Belt. Vast lebensraum and resources for colonization. Not so much solar power, but we could fuse our own. When energy is cheap the next bottlenecks are surface area and mass. It seems like success would drive our descendants to mostly live in the belt. How disappointing if those images come back tomorrow and show that it's already occupied.

KineticLensman 8y ago
> Vast lebensraum and resources for colonization Well 'vast', yes, but not much else. Mainly rock and ices.
- garmaine 8y ago
  Which are more valuable than metals.
  - FlyMoreRockets 8y ago
    Certainly the ices. No need to go so far out for that though. Bennu likely has a fair bit of water as hydrates and there is a fair bit of water ice in Saturn's rings.
    - garmaine 8y ago
      Don't be inner-solar-system-centric :) Once the frontier has been pushed back to the outer solar system, volatile KBO and Oort Cloud objects become the new frontier. We can imagine a distant future where humanity planet-hops from object to object, transforming these volatile rocks into vibrant cities each with their own culture.
      - FlyMoreRockets 8y ago
        Don't mean to be an inner-solar-system-centric, but we all have to respect the economics of deltaVee. I'll grant you that if we're harvesting reaction mass from the Oort, it may become moot, provided we have some way to accelerate it to high velocity. Solar thermal probably isn't practical, there probably aren't practical concentrations of fuel for fusion and certainly not fission. I wonder if Mercury has relatively easily mined fissile material?
        garmaine 8y ago
        What delta-V? I'm not suggesting it go anywhere too distant. In a few thousand years there will be trillions of sentient beings living in the Kuiper Belt and Oort Cloud, trading with each other and building lasting, self-sufficient civilizations.
macintux 8y ago
Finding out that it’s already occupied would be the most astounding scientific discovery in history, so I’m going to have to disagree with you on that.
- hirundo 8y ago
  The most astounding scientific discovery in history ... of competitors for resources.

KineticLensman 8y ago

> Vast lebensraum and resources for colonization Well 'vast', yes, but not much else. Mainly rock and ices.

garmaine 8y ago
Which are more valuable than metals.
- FlyMoreRockets 8y ago
  Certainly the ices. No need to go so far out for that though. Bennu likely has a fair bit of water as hydrates and there is a fair bit of water ice in Saturn's rings.
  - garmaine 8y ago
    Don't be inner-solar-system-centric :) Once the frontier has been pushed back to the outer solar system, volatile KBO and Oort Cloud objects become the new frontier. We can imagine a distant future where humanity planet-hops from object to object, transforming these volatile rocks into vibrant cities each with their own culture.
    - FlyMoreRockets 8y ago
      Don't mean to be an inner-solar-system-centric, but we all have to respect the economics of deltaVee. I'll grant you that if we're harvesting reaction mass from the Oort, it may become moot, provided we have some way to accelerate it to high velocity. Solar thermal probably isn't practical, there probably aren't practical concentrations of fuel for fusion and certainly not fission. I wonder if Mercury has relatively easily mined fissile material?
      - garmaine 8y ago
        What delta-V? I'm not suggesting it go anywhere too distant. In a few thousand years there will be trillions of sentient beings living in the Kuiper Belt and Oort Cloud, trading with each other and building lasting, self-sufficient civilizations.

macintux 8y ago

Finding out that it’s already occupied would be the most astounding scientific discovery in history, so I’m going to have to disagree with you on that.

hirundo 8y ago
The most astounding scientific discovery in history ... of competitors for resources.