New Book on Space Colonies

interesting perspective...

But perhaps the US has lost the baton already...and its up to the next power
to be to make the move.

Check out the number of high tech engineers these days and see where they
are .... India, China, Nepal....

China, like Japan, kinda started with low tech products to focus it's labor,
but is already transition to higher tech production. Everyone remembers when
"made in Japan " was a joke...Now almost all our consumer electronic geegaws
are made there. The US capacity to manufacture is passing by and was
supposedly creating information to be the driving force of the economy, as
was well said... BUT is that really what is taking place anymore?

Singapore and Hong Kong are becoming defacto info and finacial
clearinghouses...

Yes , China is just starting rocket science, but these days are not like
days of the past ...whole paradigms are leapfrogged over ...there is not the
predicatable path of 'progression" . Many countries skipped the telegraph
and phone line system and went straight to cell phones. Boom!
No lost technology or economic investment in these intermediary steps.
Nothing to amortize and pay back before the next generation can be
introduced. Bring it on!

Again, with many of the brilliant minds in engineering NOT necessarily being
in the USA any longer, and the economic surpluses that countries like China
are amassing, its not a forgone conclusion that the USA , (even with its
present space faring technology that the others lack), will maintain its
"leadership" and stay in front.

I hear how the shuttles were designed for 10 year max use, and now have
pushed beyond 20 years and being asked to go for easily another ten years of
service before next entirely new generation is on-line. Yes, the present
orbitors have had much upgrades to their original design, but there is still
only so much that you can upgrade to the basic system.

China, and others WONT have that baggage to carry. They have the technitions
and engineers to do it with now, they are acquiring the experince first hand
of launch, and they have the desire to REACH out there that the USA
presently lacks.

Great Britain lost the baton, perhaps the USA has done so now as well.
Natural evolutionary procedure. Sad for us and the USA, but perhaps that new
blood is whats needed to invest and spend in the untenable Space economy.

So for a ticket to Space, your kids may need to emigrate to the near West
and leave the old empire behind just as what happened before.