Consider the Elon Musk Mars Fantasy

Dunno, for all that he's no longer flavour of the month, Musk has put his money (and other people's) on the line in both Tesla and Space X.

I suspect the first big push might still mining/refining and zero g manufacturing which could both be done in orbit and largely remotely.

If we ever get past the hunter killer satellites and nukes in orbit stage....
 
I propose we test this Mars idea by sending all the reality TV influencers to Mars. The Kardashians, the cast of Survivor, the Batchelor shows, The great race, The housewives etc. After about a week of staring at and poking the screens of their cell phones and getting no joy, they will fail to find any paparazzi, or even a good place to have lunch and want to come back.
 
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I propose we test this Mars idea by sending all the reality TV influencers to Mars
Douglas Adams. The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy.

A fake emergency was fabricated to rid Golgafrincham of the useless people who were packed into the 'B' ark.

Marketing execs, human resources etc, also telephone sanitisers sailed off in the 'B' ark.

The remaining population of Golgafrincham died of an infection from a dirty telephone...
 
The problem is there isn’t usually a way to IMMEDIATELY make a buck. That comes later. When it does it happens in spades, but no one looks beyond next quarter’s balance sheet.
The immediate buck is made by the facilitator of the idea at the investors expense with the promise of a favorable return.

go-fund-me, religion, political parties, etc. all work that way
 
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Alas, the time of the most despicable man is coming, he that is no longer able to despise himself. Behold, I show you the last man.

“What is love? What is creation? What is longing? What is a star?” the last man asks, and he blinks....

“We have invented happiness,” say the last men, and they blink. They have left the regions where it was hard to live, for one needs warmth. One loves one’s neighbor and rubs against him, for one needs warmth...

No shepherd and one herd! Everyone wants the same, everyone is the same; whoever feels different goes voluntarily into a madhouse...

One has one’s little pleasures for the day and one’s little pleasures for the night, but one has a regard for health.

“We have invented happiness,” say the last men, and they blink.
 
We have been looking into the cosmos for a good while and, so far, have zero credible evidence that there is anyone else out there. It seems there are three possibilities:

1. We alone in the entire galaxy (Universe?) have evolved to reach the state of looking outward for others.
2. Others have evolved but the average duration of an intelligent species is sufficiently short that there are none existant simultaneously.
3. The realities of interstellar distances, very sub-light speed travel, the frailty of organic creatures and the hostility of interstellar space effectively confine the thin galactic (Universal) population of intelligent species to their home world and perhaps allow for fortuitously habitable nearby planets.

I'm betting on #3.
What about #4
4. That warp drive exists but the intelligent species on board can't fix the brakes... and we never see them go by...
 
What about #4
4. That warp drive exists but the intelligent species on board can't fix the brakes... and we never see them go by...
Remember what happened to Dark Helmet when they did hit the brakes, right? The reality is that all aboard would be turned to “pink mist”. A thin layer of it, smeared evenly on the bulkheads. Slowing down from light speed to orbital velocity at 10 G’s would take a month. I’d be sick to my stomach by then. Clearly there are problems to be worked out.
 
How about this:
If you want some technology that you don't have right now, that's a challenge. An engineering challenge.
If you have something but it develops a defect, that's a problem, like a car breaking down on the highway presents a problem.
Developing a new rocket is not a problem but an engineering challenge. You pose a target, a spec, and develop towards that.
Or do I make it more difficult now?

Jan