Inhabiting the Solar System

[Falkayn]

Newbie post warning ... this is my first post here so take it easy on me, I'm not sure what's allowed and what's regarded as bad taste/dumb questions/etc.

I am interested in the point where humans have just started to truly inhabit the solar system. I suspect that this will be a point reached sometime in the next 200 years. From what I've read, and with a basic understanding of human nature, I suspect that no one idea will win out, and that the solar system will have some of the following:

Asteroidal metrocircuses
Space habitats
Planetary colonies
Space tourists
Space miners
Space workers (long and short term)
Scientific missions
Commercial ventures
Earth nation ventures
New space nation ventures


I'd like the board members feedback on this list ... some of the questions I can think of are:

What ideas will succeed?
What are some of these ideas better for than others?
Will there be religious colonies?
What technologies will be used for what?
What do we need to achieve to get there? (eg. fusion power, acceptance of fission power)
Who will be up there? (China, Russia, USA, ESA, Japan ... ?)
Why will be people want to be off Earth?
Where will most people want to live in the solar system?


Thanks for all feedback!

[neubjr]

Welcome to the forums. You should feel free to post anything relating to space and SEDS in someway in the forums. Just try to find the appropriate forum to put your post in :)

As to your questions about future solar system colonization, I'd say it is basically all up to speculation right now. Massive solar system colonization will not happen for many years to come (as you mentioned something like 200 or so). In the near term one can basically assume that people will go where the resources are (asteroids, the moon, Mars...). However, almost everyone you talk to will have a different reason for going into space. Given enough time I'm sure you will have a full space society with all facets of life that we have here on earth, and some more.

I try not to worry about speculating myself so far in the future, but maybe some other people have some ideas of their own.

joshua.

[Falkayn]

Joshua,

Thanks for the reply ... I know it's speculation, but as a budding sci-fi writer, I'd like to get my science at least close to correct.

It's funny how everyone wants to get into space but very few people talk about what a solar system community might look like. All too often people trumpet their own ideas (space habitats vs planetary colonies) and fail to realise that probably both ideas will be used ... and may both succeed.

Anyone else have some ideas about this?

[K6-III]

Potential reasons that immediately come to mind:

1. Escape from a dying Earth
2. Chance to experiment with various social structures
3. To start over
4. For profit
5. For adventure

...too many to list, but perhaps a start...

[Dylan]

Ur a sci-fi writer huh??? i wanna do that too but it seems school n exams get the betta of me. So many ideas but no time to start them.

[irizarry]

Hello Falkayn, welcome from a fellow “Newbee”. I look forward to your first Sci-fi book (no pressure – take your time).

You Sci-Fi guys should form a Sci-Fi camp, someplace were you can meet during spring break and exchange ideas-I don’t mean Daytona Beach either?


Irizarry

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