4 ms·

That requires a truly astounding amount of material. Unless the cost to place it in orbit gets within an order of magnitude of our current terrestrial freight,

That requires a truly astounding amount of material. Unless the cost to place it in orbit gets within an order of magnitude of our current terrestrial freight, it's not happening. Best bet is to construct these things in orbit, with materials sourced in orbit. But now you have a chicken and egg problem - need to send an incredible amount of material (and people) in order to (potentially!) save in the future.

Victerius 4y ago
- TremendousJudge 4y ago
  I think you're seriously overestimating Chinese economic capabilities. They are still constrained by the same economic realities as everybody else, and -- much as we wish it were possible -- they cannot afford to just do whatever.
  - buscoquadnary 4y ago
    "You can accomplish anything when you have vision, determination and an endless supply of expendable labor"
    - post-it 4y ago
      The type of labour needed to build a space station isn't expendable.
    - detritus 4y ago
      Presumably the problem there is that even a sea of expendable labour's useless, if what you need is a Von Braun[1]-esque figure and a paddling pool of engineering talent... . [1] Korolev, Musk, &c.
- oneoff786 4y ago
  You’re afraid china will beat the us to aesthetic space stations?
  - Victerius 4y ago
    I want a country to make one. Any country. I would gladly pay for a ticket for a week long stay on an aesthetic space station. You have no idea how badly I want to live in the kind of futuristic future depicted in science fiction.
    - TremendousJudge 4y ago
      You'd like to live in a world similar to Blade Runner or Neuromancer? That doesn't seem pleasant at all to me.
    - oneoff786 4y ago
      > I would gladly pay for a ticket for a week long stay on an aesthetic space station. How much would you pay? Because the capital cost of building it was hand wavey thrown out as $500B and the operating costs of facility would be exorbitant. What do you imagine doing?
      - Victerius 4y ago
        Staring out the observation bay for hours on end with my favorite mood music playing through my headphones. Then going for a spacewalk, before heading back inside and having dinner with my friends in the rotating orbital restaurant. After that, I'll play an online video games with Earth-based players. To conclude my day, I'll return to my luxury pod, lay on the side in bed while looking outside at the planet through the port window, a mere inches from my face, and let my dreams, and the low humm of the station's machinery, take me to sleep.
        renewiltord 4y ago
        Your best bet is VR.
- diskzero 4y ago
  Space stations and exploration can be a difficult proposition to justify to any economic system; democratic, socialist, communist, etc. For China to want to "beat" us, building bigger and better space stations would somehow have to align with the current and future five year plans. I would rather have China and the US pouring tons of money into space stations and exploration, but it is hard to figure out the rationale for such a massive investment. China seems to make rational decisions, those of which I am not defending. I am trying to figure out how rational a $500 billion dollar investment in a space station would be to Chinese interests.
  - throwaway894345 4y ago
    The space race was motivated by competition with Russia, notably the imperative to establish a tactical nuclear advantage. We could conceivably see another space race between the US and China, but maybe not if "space" doesn't have the same tactical appeal?
    - diskzero 4y ago
      I suppose it could lead to a race to build a new generation of heavy lift vehicles or other propulsion systems. Maybe a return to the NERVA[1] engine! That technology was an interesting story point in the "For All Mankind" series alternative timeline. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NERVA https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NERVA
    - counttheforks 4y ago
      What happened to the US space force? I expected the US to have nukesats in orbit by now. Or maybe they do?
      - throwaway894345 4y ago
        Presumably everyone already has access to enough nukes such that there isn't much of a point in investing in nukes, whether terrestrial or satellite? The arms race might lead toward building more, better interceptors?
- kingkawn 4y ago
  you’re so excited to destroy peoples lives and end the existence of species, and yet you think you represent the future…
bityard 4y ago
Beltalowda!

Victerius 4y ago

TremendousJudge 4y ago
I think you're seriously overestimating Chinese economic capabilities. They are still constrained by the same economic realities as everybody else, and -- much as we wish it were possible -- they cannot afford to just do whatever.
- buscoquadnary 4y ago
  "You can accomplish anything when you have vision, determination and an endless supply of expendable labor"
  - post-it 4y ago
    The type of labour needed to build a space station isn't expendable.
  - detritus 4y ago
    Presumably the problem there is that even a sea of expendable labour's useless, if what you need is a Von Braun[1]-esque figure and a paddling pool of engineering talent... . [1] Korolev, Musk, &c.
oneoff786 4y ago
You’re afraid china will beat the us to aesthetic space stations?
- Victerius 4y ago
  I want a country to make one. Any country. I would gladly pay for a ticket for a week long stay on an aesthetic space station. You have no idea how badly I want to live in the kind of futuristic future depicted in science fiction.
  - TremendousJudge 4y ago
    You'd like to live in a world similar to Blade Runner or Neuromancer? That doesn't seem pleasant at all to me.
  - oneoff786 4y ago
    > I would gladly pay for a ticket for a week long stay on an aesthetic space station. How much would you pay? Because the capital cost of building it was hand wavey thrown out as $500B and the operating costs of facility would be exorbitant. What do you imagine doing?
    - Victerius 4y ago
      Staring out the observation bay for hours on end with my favorite mood music playing through my headphones. Then going for a spacewalk, before heading back inside and having dinner with my friends in the rotating orbital restaurant. After that, I'll play an online video games with Earth-based players. To conclude my day, I'll return to my luxury pod, lay on the side in bed while looking outside at the planet through the port window, a mere inches from my face, and let my dreams, and the low humm of the station's machinery, take me to sleep.
      - renewiltord 4y ago
        Your best bet is VR.
diskzero 4y ago
Space stations and exploration can be a difficult proposition to justify to any economic system; democratic, socialist, communist, etc. For China to want to "beat" us, building bigger and better space stations would somehow have to align with the current and future five year plans. I would rather have China and the US pouring tons of money into space stations and exploration, but it is hard to figure out the rationale for such a massive investment. China seems to make rational decisions, those of which I am not defending. I am trying to figure out how rational a $500 billion dollar investment in a space station would be to Chinese interests.
- throwaway894345 4y ago
  The space race was motivated by competition with Russia, notably the imperative to establish a tactical nuclear advantage. We could conceivably see another space race between the US and China, but maybe not if "space" doesn't have the same tactical appeal?
  - diskzero 4y ago
    I suppose it could lead to a race to build a new generation of heavy lift vehicles or other propulsion systems. Maybe a return to the NERVA[1] engine! That technology was an interesting story point in the "For All Mankind" series alternative timeline. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NERVA https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NERVA
  - counttheforks 4y ago
    What happened to the US space force? I expected the US to have nukesats in orbit by now. Or maybe they do?
    - throwaway894345 4y ago
      Presumably everyone already has access to enough nukes such that there isn't much of a point in investing in nukes, whether terrestrial or satellite? The arms race might lead toward building more, better interceptors?
kingkawn 4y ago
you’re so excited to destroy peoples lives and end the existence of species, and yet you think you represent the future…

bityard 4y ago

Beltalowda!