population and space

>I saw someone say that because of exponential population growth the
>vastness of space will be soon filled up with people.I think the
>equations that explain this, exponential growth, oversimplify the
>reality. If people continue to grow at an exponential rate for the
>next thousand years, then we will have already solved so many basic
>problems that we cannot even imagine the issues that we will then
>face. I think that its smart to realize that there will always
>be "hotspots", and there will always be conflict, but to worry about
>using up all the resources of space is premature. Of course an
>environmentalist would say this is the thinking that got us to
>environmental catastrophy in the first place.
>
There is no environmental catastrophy on earth at the moment. There are
some worrying signs.

> I think that there is
>no reason not to expand into space as quickly as possible.
>
At the moment, this is pretty slow.

> Can any one tell me why there is not a cheap and easy way to launch
>non-living basketball sized payloads right now?
>
Orbit capable rockets don't scale down very well- small rockets suffer
from aerodynamic drag that precludes them reaching orbit. Larger rockets
have a better crosssection area to mass ratio. Below a payload of
40-60kg or so, the minimum size of an orbital rocket doesn't decrease
much, so you are better off launching atleast that much. Above that, it
matters less how big it is- the penalty isn't so severe and the payload
scales up with vehicle size more or less in proportion; payload is about
1-2% of takeoff weight.

> with all the
>interest in small robots, It seems that a mass driver or some such
>to launch these things into space would be feasable right now .
>
Probably not. Mass drivers don't scale to earth orbit; or atleast they
are phenomenally expensive; they work best for lower speeds e.g. lunar
escape.

-Ian

"If you want to build a ship, don't drum up the workers to gather wood,
divide the work, and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the
vast and endless sea." -Antoine de Saint-Exupery