Just finished reading this article about an Indian billionaire who wants to send a private rover up to the moon. Not like those NASA or other government sponsored expeditions who just want to do boring old science. He plans to make that rover pay it’s way, by digging up gold, platinum, and something called Helium -3, which I guess he assumes will be the next hot thing.
Mining planet from some sci-fi movie
I can foresee huge obstacles, like the cost of getting any minerals back to Earth. Also, I suspect that he, and Richard Branson, may be just afficionados of space who have lots of money to burn, more than true space visionaries (I hope I’m wrong about that, the world needs some true space visionaries). But, I wish him luck.
If he is successful, then the Moon Rush is on and the game is changed forever. Once there is a chance to make money, the money will come pouring in. There will then be pressure to build the space elevator, and the technology for that is just around the corner. They just need to invent some lighter super strength material and the rest will just fall into place.
After the moon, there will be Mars. And the moons of Jupiter and Saturn. I was just reading another article about an ice moon, around Jupiter or Saturn I don’t remember which and I’m not going to look it up because it’s late and I’m tired, but that presents another weird situation. Is there life beneath the ice? But, by drilling through to look, might we not be destroying their planet? We haven’t advanced. Colonists killing aliens wherever we go.
But soon there will be mining stations throughout the solar system, and thriving colonies, ( using nuclear power, because in space nobody gives a fuck), on the Moon and on Mars, and plenty of space stations operating as cruise lines, (bars, restaurants, zero gravity dance floors). It will be an amazing future.
And we’re talking within a couple of decades.
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