The fool's errand of martian colonization

submitted by casparvoneverecBig tiddy respecter from (self.debatealtright)

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[–]Girondin 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

(1) Mars is net profitable:

Mars is totally unmined so their is a lot of material to get, escape velocity is lower so exporting to earth, is cheaper. Valuable metals are abundant on Mars, and Deuterium is 5x more abundant (useful for nuclear fussion).

Manufacturing on mars would be cheaper for some materials, some high-end materials are easier to make with a lower gravity.

(2) Im not sure if it needs to be self-sufficent, many countries on earth are probably not self-sufficent (e.g singapore) and do pretty well. It will probably reduce our existential risk so it makes humanity in general more self-sufficent.

(3) Tangible benefits are the cheaper products, and cheaper nuclear energy.

I know Peter Theil is a big advocate of terraforming and seasteading so their are some rich people trying other futurist colonies ventures. I think comet mining needs more hype around it.