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Look all the copy comments aside, the future of the human race is getting off this rock we live on. Congratulations on the success of this mission. It moves all

Look all the copy comments aside, the future of the human race is getting off this rock we live on. Congratulations on the success of this mission. It moves all of humanity forward.

xtracto 5y ago
Yes!! Moreover, China has optimized the process of massively scale production of everything. This is good as it decreases prices. Seeing it as a global humanity achievement... this is great.
- mike_d 5y ago
  Scale of production has never been the problem, achieving escape velocity is. We need to invent fuels that weigh less to have any hope of getting enough stuff into space to undertake any seriously large achievements.
  - Synaesthesia 5y ago
    The fuel cost means that almost all of us are destined to spend our lives here on earth. Only a handful will have the privilege of going up in a rocket.
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
    - ben_w 5y ago
      Yes, but rockets aren’t the only way up. Musk’s million Martian metropolis is roughly where it starts to be worth thinking about developing Launch Loops and Orbital Rings. I can definitely believe China might give that a go. [0] https://m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Launch_loop https://m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Launch_loop [1] https://m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbital_ring https://m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbital_ring
      - xtracto 5y ago
        I renember reading some Asimov writing where he mentioned that the earth is a very bad place to setup a launching base. He hypothesized that humans would create a launch base on the moon. And that with that gravity, something like magnetic launchpads could be used. That would be fantastic!
  - Lichtso 5y ago
    Once you have enough infrastructure in orbit you can start to recycle (kinetic) energy, reducing the need for fuel significantly. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skyhook_(structure) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skyhook_(structure) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_tether https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_tether Also some fuels could be made away from the earth, making their transport easier as there would be less gravity and atmosphere to fight against (∆v would still be a thing of course). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propellant_depot https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propellant_depot https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asteroid_mining https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asteroid_mining
jfk13 5y ago
If the human race wants to have a future, we need to take care of the planet we live on, not assume we can slash-and-burn our way through new environments whenever we trash our home too badly.
- ben_w 5y ago
  We need to do both. Also, research on how to even survive Mars lets us help keep Earth’s ecosystem in better shape.

Look all the copy comments aside, the future of the human race is getting off this rock we live on. Congratulations on the success of this mission. It moves all of humanity forward.

xtracto 5y ago

Yes!! Moreover, China has optimized the process of massively scale production of everything. This is good as it decreases prices. Seeing it as a global humanity achievement... this is great.

mike_d 5y ago
Scale of production has never been the problem, achieving escape velocity is. We need to invent fuels that weigh less to have any hope of getting enough stuff into space to undertake any seriously large achievements.
- Synaesthesia 5y ago
  The fuel cost means that almost all of us are destined to spend our lives here on earth. Only a handful will have the privilege of going up in a rocket.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - ben_w 5y ago
    Yes, but rockets aren’t the only way up. Musk’s million Martian metropolis is roughly where it starts to be worth thinking about developing Launch Loops and Orbital Rings. I can definitely believe China might give that a go. [0] https://m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Launch_loop https://m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Launch_loop [1] https://m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbital_ring https://m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbital_ring
    - xtracto 5y ago
      I renember reading some Asimov writing where he mentioned that the earth is a very bad place to setup a launching base. He hypothesized that humans would create a launch base on the moon. And that with that gravity, something like magnetic launchpads could be used. That would be fantastic!
- Lichtso 5y ago
  Once you have enough infrastructure in orbit you can start to recycle (kinetic) energy, reducing the need for fuel significantly. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skyhook_(structure) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skyhook_(structure) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_tether https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_tether Also some fuels could be made away from the earth, making their transport easier as there would be less gravity and atmosphere to fight against (∆v would still be a thing of course). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propellant_depot https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propellant_depot https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asteroid_mining https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asteroid_mining

jfk13 5y ago

If the human race wants to have a future, we need to take care of the planet we live on, not assume we can slash-and-burn our way through new environments whenever we trash our home too badly.

ben_w 5y ago
We need to do both. Also, research on how to even survive Mars lets us help keep Earth’s ecosystem in better shape.