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rfmcdonaldAfter kindly linking to part 8 of my ongoing series on space colonization, Jay Manifold (at A Voyage to Arcturus) kindly pointed his readers in the direction of Frederick Turner's July 1996 Reason article "Worlds Without Ends". After noting the ongoing shift of the most developed world economies away from labour-intensive extractive and manufacturing industries into highly-skilled service jobs, Turner argues that space colonization would take place as a byproduct of a highly futuristic adventure tourism, as the wealthy of Earth explore the Solar System and, in so doing, attract capital into the great beyond. This seems a plausible scenario, but two objections present themselves:
1. How much will it cost to go to Mars for a wealthy mid-21st century billionaire? Space travel is expensive, the costs growing seemingly almost proportionally to the distance from Earth. Can even these people afford it?
2. Will the technologies necessary for long-range flight be publicly available? After September 11th, any technology that can accelerate objects to speeds measures in kilometres per second is bound to be suspect.
3. Will virtual space tourism undermine the market for interplanetary manned tourism? Even with a time lag, virtual reality is a much cheaper way to experience Mars than sending a Mars Express mission.
1. How much will it cost to go to Mars for a wealthy mid-21st century billionaire? Space travel is expensive, the costs growing seemingly almost proportionally to the distance from Earth. Can even these people afford it?
2. Will the technologies necessary for long-range flight be publicly available? After September 11th, any technology that can accelerate objects to speeds measures in kilometres per second is bound to be suspect.
3. Will virtual space tourism undermine the market for interplanetary manned tourism? Even with a time lag, virtual reality is a much cheaper way to experience Mars than sending a Mars Express mission.
