
New super-Earth detected, 'best candidate' for supporting life - minecraftman
http://www.engadget.com/2012/02/03/new-super-earth-detected-best-candidate-for-supporting-life/
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jeffool
I often wonder if I'm "wrong" to think we should be putting so much more into
raw exploration and colonization. Or at least experimenting with engines and
probes. Sigh.

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InclinedPlane
Why do you think you might be wrong?

The only real reason it might be "wrong" is that it might be excessively
expensive in the hear-and-now to do compared to how easy it will be in the
next few generations. Although SpaceX and other companies are bringing down
costs so quickly regardless that such a point might be moot.

Nevertheless, consider. Right now it costs on the order of a dollar per gram
to put anything in orbit. And considerably more to maintain something like a
space station in orbit, or to launch something to another planet. This is
independent of the cost of the thing itself, which tends to be even more
expensive. However, imagine what the fruits of improving technology could
bring. Imagine if we could make 100% automated factories where bulk materials
go in one end and fully constructed launch vehicles come out the other end
(with robotics, 3D printing, and who knows what else in the middle). Imagine
if we had computers and simulations so good that you could make a digital
model of a launch vehicle and you could simulate launch and reentry with
enormous accuracy, including exploring possible failure modes. Imagine if you
then apply a genetic algorithm to existing proven launch vehicle designs with
the goal of reducing launch costs and improving reusability as much as
possible, and with the massive computing power of the future at hand you can
pop out incredibly advanced and incredibly cost efficient designs for getting
to orbit, and then build tons of them with your robot factories.

In short, in the not too distant future we could easily end up in a situation
where building orbital spaceships is on the scale of building automobiles or
airplanes, and it's as easy to get into space as it is to travel on airplanes
today, or possible easier. That would make today's inefficient and expensive
methods look like a waste of effort in comparison.

However, that's generally true for just about anything we do today anyway, so
I think it's probably worth keeping at it despite the difficulty.

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jeffool
The cost was my thought. I genuinely do go back and forth between "it's too
expensive" and "cheaper to do it now than later".

