Re:Nuclear Pulse Propulsion – Orion and Beyond (2000) [pdf]
by Pinckney on Friday October 14, 2016 @07:41AM
(#12707439)
His cost estimates depend on hundreds of thousands of people signing up, to diffuse R&D costs. That's dubious.
Historically, colonists are self-interested. Typically they want to become rich, or they want to escape poverty or persecution. (Typically they're also poorly informed about just how dangerous their new life will be, and how much wealth they can expect to find, but in this age we shouldn't expect that to last much beyond the first landing). There's no precedent that I'm aware of for people leaving comfortable, privileged lives in mass to colonize someplace that has no wealth.
Re:Nuclear Pulse Propulsion – Orion and Beyond (2000) [pdf]
by adrianN on Friday October 14, 2016 @09:55AM
(#12708057)
Giving a generation of people who grew up with science fiction as part of their daily lives the opportunity to move to a different planet is also unprecedented.
Historically, colonists are self-interested. Typically they want to become rich, or they want to escape poverty or persecution. (Typically they're also poorly informed about just how dangerous their new life will be, and how much wealth they can expect to find, but in this age we shouldn't expect that to last much beyond the first landing). There's no precedent that I'm aware of for people leaving comfortable, privileged lives in mass to colonize someplace that has no wealth.