Is There a "Killer App" for Space Colonization?
2This is just a meditation on what would be required for not just space exploration but space COLONIZATION to be prioritized. As I make clear, my only interest is intellectual: I find space exploration and space technologies interesting. I like thinking about such things as propulsion and ISRU technologies. But I am not saying that colonization either is or is not a good idea or a good use of public funds. To paraphrase one pointy-eared alien, I am saying it would be extremely "fascinating." And it absolutely would be.
A couple possibilities I did not mention in the video:
1. It is possible, however unlikely, that with advances in technology a program of space colonization would cost little more than say, the Apollo project in the Sixties. In other words, we become so advanced in such matters that we can colonize space much much more easily than we can do it now. I don't regard that as likely, but it's possible.
2. It is more than possible, indeed it is factual, that some extremely rich person may have an almost neurotic fixation on space colonization. And so they would be willing to sink vast sums in such an endeavor. However, the fact that someone with that kind of money has that desire does not mean that they are actually SUCCESSFUL at it. Even if, for instance, Elon Musk's Starship as a space transportation system is 100% successful and it does make journeys to Mars, there is a VERY long step between that and actually having a largely self-sustaining colony on Mars.
I wish him every success in fact, his exploits have been providing me with abundant fixes for my addiction to interesting things. There is no doubt that he has changed the state of the art in rocketry, but simply having lots of money and a burning desire does not necessarily equate to success at the extremely challenging task of colonization. I would like him to succeed however, so that I might have a steady flow of fascinating things to contemplate. ;)