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Space geeks: What could we do with $1 trillion?

Mars would provide a stepping-stone, among other things, to the other celestial bodies. Titan is rich for hydrocarbon processing, deuterium and helium-3, for example.

We'd need to to do Mars and figure out all that's required, not only for longer space flights than we have done, but also what's required to survive long periods of times unsupported. So some sort of habitat structure, since we can't haul enough food, growing some of your own locally, etc, etc, before we take on the even longer distances involved in doing the same on the Jovian moons.

You have to walk before you run.
 
What could we accomplish in outer space with $1 trillion? Could we start a colony on another planet? Could we start to build a tiny planet (think Death Star with nicer people)? Could we come back with some awesome resources?

Good topic.

It seems to me, the hurdles required to be overcome by such an effort would lead to some remarkable advancements in energy and materials science.

Since energy in all it's forms is the bedrock of human existence, significant breakthroughs in food, hydration, propulsion, and energy concentration would flow from the investment.

Such breakthroughs came about from the objective to land man on the moon, and would most certainly occur should the effort to pick up where we left off take place.
 
1. No air.
2. No water.
3. Deadly radiation
4. No food.
5. .... Do I need to list more? Lol
What does ending war have to do with mars magically becoming earth like?

You never heard of greenhouses? Habitats? Mars has plenty of ice and ice is frozen water in case you didnt know.

You could build underground structures, use hydrogenized plastic for building materials or just mount the water tanks on the roof since they absorb the radiation too you know.
 
You never heard of greenhouses? Habitats? Mars has plenty of ice and ice is frozen water in case you didnt know.

You could build underground structures, use hydrogenized plastic for building materials or just mount the water tanks on the roof since they absorb the radiation too you know.

I saw the use of water tanks as radioactivity shielding in a space documentary. Seems to make a lot of sense.

The crew is going to need water to consume anyway, why not mount the water tanks around the solar radiation 'safe room' as shielding?
Add to that the crew is going to need electricity, and water is the by product from hydrogen fuel cells, so they are likely to have the water anyway.

The same sort of setup could be used on Mars for the same reasons. The only problem is now you have to lift and transport large quantities (weight concern) of hydrogen and O2 to feed both the crew and the fuel cells. Of course, if we assemble the transportation to, and back from, Mars in orbit, then it doesn't have to be a single launch.
 
We'd need to to do Mars and figure out all that's required, not only for longer space flights than we have done, but also what's required to survive long periods of times unsupported. So some sort of habitat structure, since we can't haul enough food, growing some of your own locally, etc, etc, before we take on the even longer distances involved in doing the same on the Jovian moons.

You have to walk before you run.
The plus being that Mars is about as close to earth-like conditions as we're going to get in our solar system, without some fantastical/science fiction "terraforming" involved.

Which makes any colony/research base type stuff easier. I think?
 
The plus being that Mars is about as close to earth-like conditions as we're going to get in our solar system, without some fantastical/science fiction "terraforming" involved.

Which makes any colony/research base type stuff easier. I think?

No, it's not going to be easy. But we'll have to go through it, to learn from the experience, invent the technologies we'll need, and to improve or adapt the technologies we already have to meet the task, and find success.
 
No, it's not going to be easy. But we'll have to go through it, to learn from the experience, invent the technologies we'll need, and to improve or adapt the technologies we already have to meet the task, and find success.
I meant easier in comparison to, say, establishing a colony/base on the OTHER planets/moons in the solar system.

Although the moon might be closer, it has no atmosphere to speak of and much lower gravity.
 
I meant easier in comparison to, say, establishing a colony/base on the OTHER planets/moons in the solar system.

Although the moon might be closer, it has no atmosphere to speak of and much lower gravity.

Ahh. Yes. Quite true.
 
Research on diseases, self driving cars, and space stuff
 
Is it your contention that the scientific and engineering knowledge gained during such a task benefits noone?
I'm saying, the people sent there would fail and die shortly after arrival, and wouldn't have much to tell us about new technology... From hell. Humans can't live on other planets.
 
I'm saying, the people sent there would fail and die shortly after arrival, and wouldn't have much to tell us about new technology... From hell. Humans can't live on other planets.

How exactly are humans going to die after they arrive there? It's not like people will just be bringing along t-shirts and beach towels you know...
 
I'm saying, the people sent there would fail and die shortly after arrival, and wouldn't have much to tell us about new technology... From hell. Humans can't live on other planets.

...it's not like they get there and then try to invent a way to live.
 
So... Send even more food in regular shipments, to the child scientists wasting their time on a dead planet, instead of feeding the starving here on earth...?

Dude, seriously, stop watching star trek. It's science fiction Ffs.
 
So... Send even more food in regular shipments, to the child scientists wasting their time on a dead planet, instead of feeding the starving here on earth...?

Dude, seriously, stop watching star trek. It's science fiction Ffs.

You never heard of enclosed greenhouses?

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I think it is happening with a lot less resources than that.

Principally the intial reasons for going into space are the same as they always are to go to some far off place where there is danger and hard work to live at all. Loads of very valuable resources!

These, to begin with, will be in the form of the elements which we use for good batteries and stuff. Whilst these elements are rare on earth they are often adundant in asteroids. One asteroid, a medium one, 1km across, the right one, can provide all the batteries we will need for the next century.

Quickly there will be added to this such things as Helium3. This makes fusion power a lot easier and since we are almost able to make it work today we should crack it.

To get these things there will develope a general sceondary industry maunfacturing plant and habitat for the extractive industries.

The final phase will be horrific. The building of a low earth orbit shopping complex open all day all year and withing 30 minutes of all of the earth. Hideous, no escape at all....

Duty free shopping without a passport? sign me up.... you would have to report back to customs after going to the Low earth orbit shopping center though?
 
So... Send even more food in regular shipments, to the child scientists wasting their time on a dead planet, instead of feeding the starving here on earth...?

Dude, seriously, stop watching star trek. It's science fiction Ffs.

Says the scientifically disadvantaged... there are a lot of reasons why going to Mars can help those on Earth. Open your Eyes. Research. Learn.
 
Duty free shopping without a passport? sign me up.... you would have to report back to customs after going to the Low earth orbit shopping center though?

Love Duty Free... get the good bottles every time.
 
I'm a fan of orbital colonization. Build a lunar base, mine and refine the lunar regolith for resources, put a mass driver nearby, and use that as a platform to begin constructing orbital colonies at the Lagrangian points.
 
So... Send even more food in regular shipments, to the child scientists wasting their time on a dead planet, instead of feeding the starving here on earth...?

Dude, seriously, stop watching star trek. It's science fiction Ffs.

Are you under the impression it's impossible to ever grow food on Mars?
 
I'm saying, the people sent there would fail and die shortly after arrival, and wouldn't have much to tell us about new technology... From hell. Humans can't live on other planets.

Tell me, what exactly are they doing on ISS? Valeri Polyakov stayed in space for over a year (437 days). Tell me again how long you think people would be able to survive on Mars again....In 437 days you could grow a very good sized crop to feed yourself on, long before your initial supplies ran out. Proper equipment and planning nullifies your deadly radiation argument. Which btw is also shown in the fact that people are living on SSI right now and yet they are not dying from radiation poisoning. In 437 days you could even grow plants that will provide oxygen and be living on that oxygen long before your initial oxygen supply ran out.

Sorry, but I think that you're more than a bit ignorant when it comes to current technology.

Btw: Did you know that a lot of technology that we have right now has been represented in Star Trek, before such technology was even invented? Here's 11 of them
 
Additional resources, technological benefits of the effort, no longer having all our eggs in one basket.

This, we need to become a species that cannot be eliminated by a single global event.
 
Research on diseases, self driving cars, and space stuff

Self driving cars are here - perfecting them and making them affordable to senior citizens who can no longer drive would pretty amazing.
 
From space stations to space colonies what lies in the future is we will work and study space while we are in space.
 
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