high frontier labor market

--- In spacesettlers@yahoogroups.com, Matt Gallimore wrote:
>
> 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.

Well if we built habitats now, we would already have a sustainable and known business model. Space tourism. All other models and all other research can continue as well, but we do have a workable model that works now.
Brooks