high frontier labor market

From: Victor Smith victors@...

"If the US truly wanted to allow very many people in space, I have NO doubt that
we could have crews in orbit assembling habitats next year and have

them inhabited within 3-5. We COULDN'T do this with robots...not unless we spend
a couple more decades to develop them. We COULD accomplish it with prefab parts
shipped to orbit and assembled by crews of Humans on site."

And then what?

Isn't that the defining item?Not whether we could launch something into orbit,
but rather, how does that fit into a plan to take us to the next stage?
Otherwise, it is a prestige program like Apollo. Eventually everyone up there
would have to return to Earth because the supporting technologies are not in
place.

I think we are splitinto groups on this. Those who want to build a habitat
right now are in one (who believeenough of the undeveloped auxiliary science
can be done in transit). The other group wants more of thesustaining
technologies researched likeresource extraction (lunar / asteroids),
transportation, life support,manufacturing,and robotics beforeconstructing a
permanent settlement.

Either way,the question is how to convince society to make the investment.