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While it will be fun to see humans on Mars, the really interesting stuff is further out. Where large lifters like this will really shine is in allowing automate

While it will be fun to see humans on Mars, the really interesting stuff is further out. Where large lifters like this will really shine is in allowing automated mining factories to be sent to various space rocks in order to allow further, larger projects to be built in place. Musk has been piggybacking technologies to fund future projects — I don't see Mars as an endpoint for his vision, and Mars will be a cash sink instead of a cash generator for some time to come. Look for the next moneymaking (and project-fostering) step.

Gustomaximus 6y ago
> Mars will be a cash sink instead of a cash generator for some time to come The wildcard for profit here is government. No doubt China and possibly Russia, EU and India will want to race for position when the see America claiming stake here. I could see huge government funds from US and even allied countries coming through to support the development and get the fast claims.
- hobofan 6y ago
  I don't see why any earthly government would want to pour a lot of money into Mars. From what history has shown us the Mars colony will likely declare independence from any earthly government once they are self-sustaining which would void any "claims".
TeMPOraL 6y ago
> While it will be fun to see humans on Mars, the really interesting stuff is further out. Where large lifters like this will really shine is in allowing automated mining factories to be sent to various space rocks in order to allow further, larger projects to be built in place. The way I see it, a lot of interesting things are closer than Mars. There's plenty of space rocks near Earth, that could be nudged into Earth orbit and mined, ultimately enabling orbital construction. I'm hoping a whole economy in cislunar space will eventually take off. That would go a long way towards making servicing Mars cheaper, too.
- GordonS 6y ago
  > There's plenty of space rocks near Earth, that could be nudged into Earth orbit As a lay person, this sounds kind of dangerous - wouldn't there be a risk of the rock hurtling towards earth and causing a huge impact?
  - TeMPOraL 6y ago
    There would be, but it can be minimized. It would take a major mistake (or intentional action) to fail an orbital capture maneuver in such a way the asteroid would hit Earth instead. Most possible failures would just leave it hurtling through space, or orbiting the Earth in a suboptimal way. A correctly executed capture does not, at any point, pass through the state in which asteroid's trajectory would make it hit the planet - so one of the best mitigations would be designing the mission in such a way that engines fail safe, and any kind of deviation from mission parameters leads to engine shutdown. Of course, the very capability of altering trajectory of asteroids creates risks of its own, similar to the capability of splitting atom.

Gustomaximus 6y ago

> Mars will be a cash sink instead of a cash generator for some time to come The wildcard for profit here is government. No doubt China and possibly Russia, EU and India will want to race for position when the see America claiming stake here. I could see huge government funds from US and even allied countries coming through to support the development and get the fast claims.

hobofan 6y ago
I don't see why any earthly government would want to pour a lot of money into Mars. From what history has shown us the Mars colony will likely declare independence from any earthly government once they are self-sustaining which would void any "claims".

TeMPOraL 6y ago

> While it will be fun to see humans on Mars, the really interesting stuff is further out. Where large lifters like this will really shine is in allowing automated mining factories to be sent to various space rocks in order to allow further, larger projects to be built in place. The way I see it, a lot of interesting things are closer than Mars. There's plenty of space rocks near Earth, that could be nudged into Earth orbit and mined, ultimately enabling orbital construction. I'm hoping a whole economy in cislunar space will eventually take off. That would go a long way towards making servicing Mars cheaper, too.

GordonS 6y ago
> There's plenty of space rocks near Earth, that could be nudged into Earth orbit As a lay person, this sounds kind of dangerous - wouldn't there be a risk of the rock hurtling towards earth and causing a huge impact?
- TeMPOraL 6y ago
  There would be, but it can be minimized. It would take a major mistake (or intentional action) to fail an orbital capture maneuver in such a way the asteroid would hit Earth instead. Most possible failures would just leave it hurtling through space, or orbiting the Earth in a suboptimal way. A correctly executed capture does not, at any point, pass through the state in which asteroid's trajectory would make it hit the planet - so one of the best mitigations would be designing the mission in such a way that engines fail safe, and any kind of deviation from mission parameters leads to engine shutdown. Of course, the very capability of altering trajectory of asteroids creates risks of its own, similar to the capability of splitting atom.