Heat management, recycling, $, and space ores

Hi Ian,

Forget the diamond, concentrate on the nanotubes. They are about to
begin to become a mass production probability for many reasons apart
from space elevators, but when that happens, the cost of dropping a
space elevator from geosynch will also drop. Chances are that in 50
years time it will be very economic to build an elevator - just about
the time space mining will also become a fairly major economic industry.

Space mining is not likely to become majorly economic until space
already has several viable economic settlements. These will build up
through the next 50 years by a combination of scientific bases and
tourist destinations.

The space tourist wallahs are already forecasting seriously that there
will be jobs in space hotels for between 20,000 and 100,000 hotel staff
within as little as 30 years. That is quite a lot of folk living in
space - and that isn't counting the 5 million space tourists a year that
they expect by 2030.

One of the problems is that the scientific fraternity are liable to
oppose the tourists, so there is already resistance in high places where
governments still tend to consult scientists rather than tour operators
on matters of space. However in the long run the scientists won't win
this one as they are to a large extent government - and that means
taxpayer - subsidized, and those that pay the subsidies are the voters
and future tourists.

One NASA report has already recommended that a private enterprise
tourist module be added to the ISS. If it happens it will just be the
beginning. In time the scientific modules will be being added to the
tourist space hotels rather than the other way round. Other businesses
will start up in space to service these facilities, and gradually space
settlements will build up in this way.

O'Neill-type habitats will come later.

Best wishes, Andy.

Ian Woollard wrote: