making money on asteroids

--- In spacesettlers, "Valens Agnitio" wrote:

> Why do people reference sci-fi books or movies as proof of
> concepts, ideas, or pre-conceptions?
>
> Val

'Cause its all we've got. Until this stuff is actually done, what
else is there to reference?

Xenophile (on the subject of eugenics, please see early chapters of
_Princess of Mars_ and middle/late chapters of _Lost on Venus_, both
by Edgar Rice Burroughs)

To: spacesettlers@yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: [spacesettlers] Re: making
money on asteroids
Subject:
[spacesettlers] Re: making money on asteroids
Date:
Mon, 22 Mar 2004 12:43:36 -0000
From:
"Xenophile"
Reply-To:
spacesettlers@yahoogroups.com
To:
spacesettlers@yahoogroups.com

--- In spacesettlers, "Valens Agnitio" wrote:
> Why do people reference sci-fi books or movies as proof of
> concepts, ideas, or pre-conceptions?
>
> Val
'Cause its all we've got. Until this stuff is actually done, what
else is there to reference?

Xenophile (on the subject of eugenics, please see early chapters of
_Princess of Mars_ and middle/late chapters of _Lost on Venus_, both
by Edgar Rice Burroughs)

Because science fiction is where most of our ideas were originated and refined.
When did you first read of space settlements?
With me, it was in 1953. And I was reading Jack Williamson's "The Prince of
Space" which was published in the January 1931 issue of Amazing Stories.
Which means, given publishing delays, that Jack Williamson was grappling
with how space settlements would work about 75 years ago.
I know of no scientist that was doing the same that long ago.
Hugo Gernsback started Amazing Stories back in 1926 and he intended it to
be scientifically accurate. Unfortunately, he could not publish a monthly
magazine and do so. But he tried.

To: spacesettlers@yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: [spacesettlers] Re: making
money on asteroids
Subject:
[spacesettlers] Re: making money on asteroids
Date:
Mon, 22 Mar 2004 12:43:36 -0000
From:
"Xenophile"
Reply-To:
spacesettlers@yahoogroups.com
To:
spacesettlers@yahoogroups.com

--- In spacesettlers, "Valens Agnitio" wrote:
> Why do people reference sci-fi books or movies as proof of
> concepts, ideas, or pre-conceptions?
>
> Val
'Cause its all we've got. Until this stuff is actually done, what
else is there to reference?

Xenophile (on the subject of eugenics, please see early chapters of
_Princess of Mars_ and middle/late chapters of _Lost on Venus_, both
by Edgar Rice Burroughs)

Because science fiction is where most of our ideas were originated and refined.

When did you first read of space settlements?

With me, it was in 1953. And I was reading Jack Williamson's "The Prince of
Space" which was published in the January 1931 issue of Amazing Stories.
Which means, given publishing delays, that Jack Williamson was grappling
with how space settlements would work about 75 years ago.

I know of no scientist that was doing the same that long ago.

Hugo Gernsback started Amazing Stories back in 1926 and he intended it to
be scientifically accurate. Unfortunately, he could not publish a monthly
magazine and do so. But he tried.

Astounding Stories in the late thirties had a letter column, Brass Tacks,
which shared space with Scientific Discussions, another letter column.
Readers liked to try to catch authors in a mistake.

In 1953, Mission of Gravity by Hal Clement, a master of "hard" science
fiction was serialized in Astounding. "Hard" in this case meaning that
science was stressed.

A few issues latter, in Brass Tacks, one reader calmly noted that the hero
in the story had opened a vehicle door. The door had one atmosphere of
pressure inside and three atmospheres of pressure outside.

Which means a pressure of nearly thirty pounds per square inch was holding
that door shut.

Editor John Campbell had attended MIT. Clement got his Master's in 1947 in
astronomy and had grad courses in chemistry. Neither had caught the error.

This group might be here without science fiction. I seriously doubt it
would have advanced to nearly where it is.

Rick Brooks