Planetside vs. space-based WAS Maintaining very small ecosystems

Great points, Charles. The messages in this list that I enjoy most are
those with near-term focus. Discussions of terraforming are not too
interesting to me, because I'll be in my grave long before such things
happen. Same comments for fusion drives and other far-out technologies
that are mentioned from time to time. Today's technologies are sufficient
to begin moving out into space.

And let me further your comments regarding the safety of space colonies
versus airplanes. Airplanes have to be light in order to fly. A space
colony located a few kilometers away from an NEA could have concrete walls
of arbitrary thickness --- quite a difference from an airplane. An
airplane has to endure takeoffs and landings, fly through rain, sleet and
snow. A space colony just has to endure radiation and an occasional
micrometeoroid, both of which can be countered with heavy shielding built
from local materials.

NASA just recently contacted a deep space probe launched in 1965 that is
still operating; once we get out of LEO, the space environment is
actually fairly benign.

Ron Menich

Charles
very small ecosystems
06/06/01
09:10 AM
Please
respond to
ssi_list

>
> Do I do it? Yes. Do I feel safer in the aircraft than when my feet are
> on the ground? Not even a little. If I were given the choice to spend
> the next year of my life in an aircraft or on the ground, I'd probably
> choose on the ground. ;-)
>

The cost of containers is a lot cheaper than the cost of terraforming
and can be done a lot more quickly.

Terrafroming will not happen within my lifetime, or even for several
generations.

It is so long term and hypothetical I really do not see any point in
discussing it.

I am interested in practical projects to get us out there as quickly as
possible.

I would rather visit a container space colony today, or at least within
my lifetime, than dream about a terraform planet I will never see.

The general public has a good comfort zone for flying in pressurized
aircraft, so I really do not see container colonies as something people
will regard as unsafe. In fact, they will be safer than commercial
aircraft today for several reasons.