95 sextillion people via Oort + Kuiper (was It takes a lot of nitrogen to)

On 3/18/12 10:06 PM, brooksn wrote:

> I tend to think that humans will be on Earth and that we will 'manage'
> the population to be eventually quite static in size. But that those
> like us will continue to want to go into space.

I'm with you up to this point.

> I see space colonies in
> Earth orbit, on the moon and on Mars but then not much else in the rest
> of the solar system. Maybe a roaming habitat whose inhabitants study all
> the planets, moons, and major asteroids, etc.

I think this is vastly underestimating the amount of valuable real
estate in the solar system. I see the whole system eventually teeming
with inhabitants, ranging from solar orbits closer than Mercury, to the
asteroid belts, to the Jovian and Saturnian systems, all the way out to
the Kuiper belt.

> Just my opinion, I'd think the resources, goods, and people of
> Earth would keep us generally close until the big move.

Well, I can understand your point of view, and I'd say it's an accurate
depiction of the next couple hundred years. But beyond that, the Earth
will start to seem like a historically important, but relatively small
part of civilization -- much as England seems to us Americans (only two
centuries after shaking off the crown).

Best,
- Joe