Re: starship-design: Infrastructure in space [was: FTL travel...]

[Ben Franchuk <bfranchuk@jetnet.ab.ca>]

Curtis Manges wrote:

> This is all going to be tricky, I think. The commercial/industrial-scale
> infrastructure will be needed to establish and maintain settlement and
> profitability, but nobody will want to pay for it all up front, and I don't see > > how
> it could become profitable until it's established -- a catch-22 of sorts. But once
> it is established, there will be a market shift; first profits will go dirtside to
> pay the investment, but then the settlement will become its own internal market,
> like a new country, and these profit exchanges will overlap somewhat.

Until we get the transportation infrastructure in place none of this
can happen. In some cases the structure is easy to set up, like rail
roads. In the 1800's railroads use coal,and steel. more railroads
more coal and steel you need, to make more coal and steel you use
more trains requiring more umm coal and steel.

It seems like everybody is develping new rocket motors, but nobody is
using them.
Lets pick a design and get it to work, if Mr Ford waited for the best
car
design we all would still be walking.

Get it to work, then refine it.


Ben.
-- 
"We do not inherit our time on this planet from our parents...
 We borrow it from our children."
The Lagging edge of technology:
http://www.jetnet.ab.ca/users/bfranchuk/woodelf/index.html