A reason to go to Mars

My bias lends me to feel that the reverse would be true; Hundreds of
thousands in orbital ports & cities, with Many millions on the
surface.

If each family has an average of 2.5 children though, that could be
centuries in the future. Unless a massive forced-migration, like
Botany Bay were mandated, I don't see more than 20 adults in the next
20 years, a thousand colonists of all ages in the next 50 years,
hundreds of thousands in a couple of centuries.

That would eventually explode into the millions as more regolith is
converted to arable soil.
...Or hydroponics & resource utilization (mining & manufacture) pay
the way for greater habitat construction.

Terraforming is not part of that equation, but it will happen, at
about one/tenth the rate that the Americas were settled by Europeans'
descendants.

Prosperity has historically brough slower population growth, and
peace greater survival rates, but war & strife cause poor people to
reproduce at accelerated rates, hoping to 'shotgun' enough offspring
that some might survive and thrive.

That's a rather general statement, but essentially true, with few
exceptions throughout written history.

Asteroid mining & settlement may just upset that equation. Due to the
enourmous distances, and lack of need for strife (or warfare ) in
scattered space, there may indeed be a LARGER population growth out
there.

That is a scientific theory which may only be proven by getting out
there and just doing it.

My gut tells me it ain't so, but the engineer in my head is from
Missourri (the Show Me State). Posterity will tell.

--- In spacesettlers@yahoogroups.com, "sailor.barsoom"
wrote: