First step to an exo-earth settlement is going to be sending the biggest reactor that will fit on a rocket. Two of them, actually.[1]
Whether its digging, breathing, or making rocket-fuel pretty much everything is going to require, by earth standards, gobs of power. Last thing you'd want to do is operate in a power-starved or even power-adequate environment.
[1]Plus, to be fair, enough backup solar or RTG to keep people alive in case of reactor failure.
Is that feasible? The container for the radioactive fuel must be robust enough to survive a catastrophic failure during launch followed by an an impact on Earth without releasing its contents. Which is possible (RTGs are built that way), but adds a lot of weight.
First step to an exo-earth settlement is going to be sending the biggest reactor that will fit on a rocket. Two of them, actually.[1]
Whether its digging, breathing, or making rocket-fuel pretty much everything is going to require, by earth standards, gobs of power. Last thing you'd want to do is operate in a power-starved or even power-adequate environment.
[1]Plus, to be fair, enough backup solar or RTG to keep people alive in case of reactor failure.