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Though it lacks in the headlines, my preference is to send the robots first to bootstrap local production. Unless we really screw up the worst case would be so
by mjevans 11mo ago
Though it lacks in the headlines, my preference is to send the robots first to bootstrap local production. Unless we really screw up the worst case would be some extra garbage to clean up for future missions, and the best case is any sort of increase in local production capacity.
- DennisP 11mo agoYeah that makes sense, especially these days. Even Zubrin's original Mars Direct plan sent a methane factory ahead of the people.
- adastra22 11mo agoWhy though? That’s the interesting part. Pioneers want to be there to experience the challenge of bootstrapping. It’s the whole point. It’s like saying “why climb Everest? We can send a drone up instead.”
- hollerith 11mo agoFine as long as I don't have to pay for it in taxes.
- cess11 11mo agoRight, and now that "climb Everest" is past the "pioneer" stage, what does it look like? Trash, exploitation and littered with corpses.
- DennisP 11mo agoIf you're climbing Everest, sure. If you're settling a new world, building a place to live with an economy, then the easier the better.
- Animats 11mo agoMost future space exploration will probably be robotic, just as it is now.