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Raw materials. Not every system will have convenient lumps of rock and metals spinning in orbit around the star. Among those that do, the presence of an asteroi
by cgriswald 6y ago
Raw materials. Not every system will have convenient lumps of rock and metals spinning in orbit around the star. Among those that do, the presence of an asteroid belt may make those systems relatively rich since there is more material on the surface, easily accessible.
- adrianN 6y agoWhy would you want to settle a system that doesn't have all the stuff available you need? Moving nontrivial amounts of mass around the universe is extremely expensive.
- cgriswald 6y ago> Why would you want to settle a system that doesn't have all the stuff available you need? To make use of the materials and other benefits the system does have; the same reason we settle such places on Earth. > Moving nontrivial amounts of mass around the universe is extremely expensive. This amount of energy is a smudge on a ledger in comparison to the energy even a solitary, planet-less red dwarf puts out in its lifetime. Unless we develop a method for fusing the materials we need from hydrogen and helium, the only chance of becoming a type III civilization is to learn to move mass around and make these trade offs.