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Agreed on both points. I remember seeing some of these images back in the 70s when space colonies were first seriously proposed. The idea that I might live to s
by rootbear 5y ago
Agreed on both points. I remember seeing some of these images back in the 70s when space colonies were first seriously proposed. The idea that I might live to see such things built was thrilling. But looking at these images now, they seem very naive. I suspect the reality of space colonies, should we ever build them, will be much less like an idyllic space suburb and more like a dense urban complex.
- kitsunesoba 5y agoI think what space colonies end up looking like in reality depends entirely on the infrastructure we build. If we’re stuck with rockets that either lift tiny payloads or are ludicrously expensive to launch (see SLS’ $2B-$4B estimated cost per launch), I think your predictions are right on the mark. In that situation building anything even remotely luxurious is not practical. If we assume the existence of something like Starship+Superheavy as it’s currently planned, that starts to change. You’re still not going to see O’Neill cylinders, but simple ring stations with interiors nice enough to be resorts are within grasp. To achieve things as fully as depicted in these images, extraction of resources and manufacturing in space will be necessary. Even with cheap superheavy launch, lifting all the required material to orbit isn’t a practical consideration. Achieving those prerequisites is helped quite a lot by Starship though, because it’s more than enough to bootstrap asteroid mining operations and the like.