4 ms·
Mini-factories in space could become a thing, supposedly a lot of industrial processes are only difficult because of friction and gravity.
by Covzire 3y ago
Mini-factories in space could become a thing, supposedly a lot of industrial processes are only difficult because of friction and gravity.
- colechristensen 3y agoAsteroid mining I think is one of the most interesting initial space industries. Something silly like a single asteroid having metals with current valuations of a million times the global GDP. Obviously you can't sell for that much but asteroid mining could make a lot of commodities become insanely cheap, and that would enable some pretty amazing things here at home, and in space. Like what if steel were cheaper than plastic? If there was enough of it around to build a bridge between New York and London? If you could build a ship the size of Manhattan and then a city on top of it to roam the oceans? If you could build entire cities in orbit or city-ships that slowly wandered the solar system.
- TMWNN 3y ago>Asteroid mining I think is one of the most interesting initial space industries. I hope to see in my lifetime a large asteroid brought to Earth orbit, for both mining and as a very large space station.
- Geisterde 3y agoA large space station is an interesting idea, or a long range station!
- mjevans 3y agoYes, send up the robot miners. Plow the results onto the moon a safe but close distance to a base. Manufacture parts in lower G and far easier vacuum (it's super useful for MANY industrial things). Possibly even use solar collector ovens to melt/cook. Returning bulk products to earth might not be viable in the short term, but this could really bootstrap what we do off planet and I'm hopeful it might eventually make space elevators viable which would open a lot of options.
- floxy 3y agoThe biggest coup d'état was training an entire generation of children to be virtual mining operators.
- dog_boxer72 3y agoBanning child labor was a mistake, clearly they yearn for the mines.
- adolph 3y ago> Asteroid mining Think of all the science you could do with asteroids! Peer into the early history of the solar system . . . see what precursors to life existed before Earth was habitable. . . and all people think about is how fast they can strip-mine our extraterrestrial heritage. . . All that belongs in a museum! /s
- throwaway2037 3y agoI hear this touted a lot, but I never hear any specific examples. Do you know any?
- wigiv 3y agoThere are quite a few specific examples, all on a spectrum of technical and economic feasibility, of course. Here’s a great place to start: https://www.factoriesinspace.com/ https://www.factoriesinspace.com/
- hoseja 3y agoImagine vacuum foundries. AFAIU lot of metallurgy gets very complicated by the ubiquity of everything rusting all the time, exponentially moreso if it becomes hot.