Re: Terraforming the Moon

From: The Ghost In The Machine (ewill_at_sirius.athghost7038suus.net)
Date: 02/28/05 

Date: Mon, 28 Feb 2005 06:00:09 GMT

In sci.physics, jimp@specsol-spam-sux.com
<jimp@specsol-spam-sux.com>
 wrote
on Mon, 28 Feb 2005 01:07:32 +0000 (UTC)
<cvtqsk$r2o$1@mail.specsol.com>:
> In sci.physics habshi <habshi@anony.com> wrote:
>> Jim forget the cost for a minute , we have millions unemployed
>> in Europe because of tight money policies and lack of demand.
>
> In your wonderland, comic book la-la world, you can forget cost.
>
> In the real world in which I live, work, and pay taxes, I can not
> forget cost.

Actually, I think the issue is more along the lines of
return on investment. Then again, that's not all that
far off when it comes to terraforming planets, especially
when one considers that, given most scenarios that I
for one can think of, Earth gets nothing back, unless
the Moon (the most obvious target) actually turns out to
be a significant producer of He3 which is shipped back
to Earth for fusion purposes -- and I for one am of the
opinion that my "ultimate stardrive" (requiring 4 protons
to generate fusion power to throw the He4 nucleus out)
will happen before that.

There is the faint possibility of Mars producing iron but
there are easier scenarios: dropping an iron asteroid
onto the Earth's surface (if it can be done carefully enough!)
seems a bit easier, if one can withstand the environmental
devastation. (Admittedly, recycling the old iron seems even easier.)

>
> Cost is the primary reason no one in their right mind would build a
> tunnel if there were any other way; tunnels cost a fortune compared
> to paving or laying tracks on the surface.
>
> Where is all this money going to come from no matter how many unemployed
> there are, magic?
>
> Chalk up economics as yet another subject where habshi displays blinding
> ignorance and proves he hasn't a clue.
>
>
>> Now list ten advantages of having such a rail system. To argue a point
>> always try to see the viewpoint of the opposite side as an excercise.
>> So list ten good things about such an underground high capacity rail
>> system.
>
> Life is about trade offs and return on investment.

Oops...I see I anticipated you. :-)

>
> I can not think of a single "good thing" to say about an underground
> rail system if there exists the ability to lay tracks on the surface
> of the ground.

Except for perhaps the surface weather, but that pales in comparison
to the initial outlay. Most trains are covered anyway. :-)

>
> I can think of several "bad things" even if you ignore the much higher
> construction and maintenance costs, which in the real world you can
> not do.
>
> You are a childish simpleton; get a job.
>

One wonders if jobs will become obsolete in the US after a few years.
Jobs, after all require a certain energy (more along the lines of
"elan" or "purpose", as opposed to joules), and the cheaper the
job is to do elsewhere, the more likely it will in fact migrate thereto.

Then again, there are certain communications difficulties that will
have to be addressed first. Telecommuting is a nice efficient ideal,
but managers aren't exactly going to trust the workers at home, hm? :-) 

-- 
#191, ewill3@earthlink.net
It's still legal to go .sigless.

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