Can humans live happily in space?

From: spacesettlers@yahoogroups.com
[mailto:spacesettlers@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of sraj

> The next step towards space colonization should try to confirm
> that it is indeed possible for humans to put up infrastructure
> in space where they can keep themselves occupied and form
> lasting social groups. The ambience they create should be such
> that they feel like staying there rather than hurrying back to earth.

I just got through making a similar point on sci.space.policy. I was
arguing with somebody that even if it's true that nobody short of a Bill
Gates could afford a house in the first space settlement, there was hope
that large corporations might take care of the housing for the first
generation of space workers in order to reduce employee turnover. I was
comparing the space worker who lives 5 or 6 years in a ISS-type space
module and then retires to Earth so that he can "get back to his life"
versus a worker in Island One who might well perceive that his "life" is
there in orbit.

> The question is whether it will be cheaper to have the
> settlements on the Moon, or in Space Habs?

That's the $10,000 dollar question, isn't it? Throughout the space
advocacy community, everybody "knows" it will be much cheaper to start
on planetary (or at least lunar) surfaces than in space because such
surfaces are "easier" than free space. Some even argue that Mars will
be the cheapest location for the first settlement beyond Earth. I think
that perhaps good arguments can be made about availability of resources,
but those cost savings will have to be weighed against the additional
costs of operating at a much greater distance from Earth.

Me, I still tend to favor the old High Frontier plan. Certainly start
with a modest moonbase, but concentrate industrial activity in orbit
where it can benefit from constant availability of solar power. Defer
significant lunar industrialization to a later point when end products
intended for use on the lunar surface are desired.

Regards,

Mike Combs