Malthusian Theory and Travel Beyond Earth Orbit

"John Maxson" writes:

What's the projected world population by the time we expect
to have completely replaced the space shuttle for ISS trips?

I can't see any relationship between Shuttle/ISS and world population.

Does a newer space ship offer us a timely chance to beat the
Malthusian outcome (i.e.., will it help us find natural resources
on another celestial body and also lead to colonization)?

Ditto. There is no relationship between a newer space ship and a
"Malthusian" outcome. There simply will be no space capability in
the foreseable future that will have any appreciable impact on
population and/or available resources.

We will simply have to rely on the fact that we humans are extreme
"K strategists" and therefore will self-limit our population growth.

http://fig.cox.miami.edu/Faculty/Tom/bil160sp98/16_rKselection.html

... investing more heavily in plans for preventing our extinction?

Definitely. A self sustaining colony on Mars or in space habitats
would be great and we should lay the foundations ASAP. But any
colony is not going to be self sustaining in the lifetime of anyone
around today.

Wouldn't that require vast reductions in military expenditures
for space, so we can find peaceful solutions to world strife?

It would be nice if we could all agree on reducing our military
expenditure. Ultimately it comes down to feeling secure and being
able to trust your neighbours that they won't harm you. Of course
there will always be some troublesome neighbours who have been at
each other's throats for hundreds of years and are unlikely to stop
now (f.e. in the Balkans); but 10% of current military expenditure
should be enough to police that.

--
Manfred Bartz