Space: A sudden light
economist.com
Space: A sudden light
1–10 of 51 posts
Re: Space: A sudden light
#2In Elon Musk, we trust!
Re: Space: A sudden light
#3What problem do space flights solve?
Re: Space: A sudden light
#4This is notable because The Economist penned this a few years ago: http://www.economist.com/node/18897425
Of course economists are on par with Ouija board users at predicting the future.
Re: Space: A sudden light
#5Reads like a big PR release for a budding industry....but since I am a huge fan of space exploration... I'm totally cool with it.
Re: Space: A sudden light
#6What problem do space flights solve?
Long term continuity of the human race, by backing up to another physical medium, I.e. planet
Re: Space: A sudden light
#7What problem do space flights solve?
Long term continuity of the human race, by backing up to another physical medium, I.e. planet
As well as a massive motivating research goal with incredibly hard problems that tend to have practical applications on Earth. And a means of inspiring billions.
Re: Space: A sudden light
#8What problem do space flights solve?
Space-based mining may solve dwindling availability of rare elements useful in industrial processes made profitable by realized cost reductions in space travel.
Re: Space: A sudden light
#9The real problem with the space economy is that there are really very few business plans:
- Space Tourism
- Imagery Acquisition
- Communications
- Science
- Astroid Mining (pending)
... And it turns out that none so far have been good businesses, and the small sat form factor is really limited. I really really love space stuff, but I don't see any of these creating explosive growth in the short term. Eventually the costs will come down, but it will probably take a long time.
*EDIT (as pointed out by pjungwir):
- Zero G manufacturing
Re: Space: A sudden light
#10What problem do space flights solve?
Off the top of my head: monitoring weather, providing communications, and allowing devices to precisely locate themselves.