/sci/ - Science & Math

>>7564761
>idk meng, maybe china and russia trying to lock down cis-lunar space will allow someone to scare congress into giving nasa direct orders on colonization and the money to do it
Maybe china and india could generate sufficient competitive pressure to force NASA into another mode of operation, russia can't - it's in deep recession.
There is a European project about building ISRU shelter http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Engineering_Technology/Building_a_lunar_base_with_3D_printing , I hope it will be successful.
Anyway, I don't believe in governments for space colonization anymore, even internet billionaires seem to be more persistent with this aspiration (see Musk, Bezos, hell even John Carmac has his own space companies that has flown a rocket into space http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aw11NFz14sA ).


>if it were me (and it's not), nasa would be completely restructured and based in only one location, colonization would be priority one
If there were a sufficiently massive and influential space advocacy movement this could come true. Generating content and spreading awareness is something any determined person can do, and if done at a scale it could steer the political agenda.

The beautiful thing about robotic space colonization is that these systems can be prototyped on Earth in full detail (except the gravity of course, it could make a difference for some structural details and chemical reactions) because the compositions of martian and lunar regolith are known and substitutes are available.
Maybe if NASA could be pushed into making some regular competition for DIY rover robots in moon- or mars-like environments (with some complex tasks requiring manipulation of surroundings) it would be a step forward in this general direction.
It would be cool to take part in such competition.