On Jul 31, 2:13*pm, (William December Starr) wrote:
In article ,
"Giga" said:

[...] but it still avoids the question of *what* would be more
useful to mine in space or on a non-terrestrial planet in the
Solar system than here on Earth.

HE3 AFAIU,

And how far is that?

Moon.

No, I meant "How far is the 'far' in that 'AFAIU'?"

Why do you think that Helium-3 would be useful -- as in,
cost-effective -- to mine from the Moon, if it's to be found there?

asteroids as well.

What do you think is more useful to mine from asteroids than here
on Earth?

Its not what I just think, there are companies already looking
into it.

"Looking into it" not= "it will be more useful to mine X from
asteroids than here on Earth." *It just means somebody's thinking
about it (assuming that *a given company isn't just a shell
designed to raise money from gullible investors and then vanish).

*You* don't seem to have answers as to why anyone should,
economically, want to invest in space colonization or exploitation.

[...]

Also you almost certainly need green-houses etc as well.

None of which require preliminary slower-than-light colonization of
the Solar system to develop.

Colonisation of other planets would not be useful experience for
colonisation of other planets? That statement cannot make sense
even to you?

Ah, you mean as practice for extra-solar colonization when/if a
working faster-than-light drive is invented? *(I thought you were
talking about hydroponics or something for use _on board_ an FTL but
still years-long journey.)

A good idea, except for the fact that it boils down to "We should
colonize the Solar system just so we'll be ready *in case* an FTL
drive is ever invented."

Look, I'd really, really, really like to believe that there's a
secret to breaking the speed-of-light limit out there just waiting
for to be discovered, and that mankind is going to go to the stars
and all that, but I'm not going to *assume* that it's going to
happen and then bootstrap an "And *because it's going to happen,
we'd better start getting getting ready for it *right now*" onto
that.

-- wds

and of course, the old question: if intrastellar travel is possible,
then where the hell is everybody? we're the only species in the galaxy
capable of potentially figuring it out?