The U. S. Must be first with the space elevator in order to maintain superiority in space Kent 07
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Solvency EnvironmentThere are intangible benefits of space exploration Siegfried 2003 Space Colonization—Benefits for the World W. H. Siegfried The Boeing Company, Integrated Defense Systems http://www.aiaa.org/participate/uploads/acf628b.pdf Aside from the more demonstrable returns that would come from Space Colonization, there are a host of intangible benefits (U.S. Office of Management and Budget, 2000; Mankins, 2001; Mankins, 1997; Siegfried, 2000a; Siegfried, 1999). Mankind has always been goal-driven. The accessibility of journeys to space destinations could become a great motivational factor to the general population and a goal for emerging societies (Koelle, 2002). It could become a new commercial industry similar to the explosive growth of travel and adventure trips spawned by the jet age. We could expand our living space, create at least a second home for Earth-based life forms through development of lunar colonics and, eventually, perhaps terraforming Mars. We can potentially sublimate some of our ethnic strife in a common reach to the universe. We will better understand our Earth’s environment and evolutionary history and rekindle the spirit of adventure that we experienced during the frontier days. Space Colonization will benefit from burgeoning technology here on Earth but will also spawn the creation of as-yetundreamed leaps. It could lead to potential storage or disposal venues for waste material and, by its very nature, provide the impetus for whole new generations of transportation, housing, and environmental control systems. The development of low-cost access systems will spawn flight rates similar to our terrestrial tourist frequencies and, coupled with the development of new space businesses and a space infrastructure, will implement humankind’s expansion throughout space. It has been 30 years since we left our Moon. It is time to return, this time to stay (Siegfried, 1997; Siegfried, 2001; Siegfried, 2000b) Colonization Good Misc.Energy/ResourcesSpace colonization solves environmental problems. Engdahl 2008 (Sylvia Engdahl has written many non-fiction books on space exploration and development. November 5, 2008. http://www.sylviaengdahl.com/space/survival.htm) hss The emerging nations’ need for power must be balanced against potential environmental damage from such dangers as fossil fuel emissions (if there were enough fuel available), which could be greater than nuclear energy risks. Currently, the United States annually consumes approximately 3 trillion Kwh’s of electrical energy and, if this rate grows at only 2% per year, by 2050 United States power requirements will be around 9 trillion Kwh’s per year. Total world needs, assuming a very low use by developing nations (not a conservative estimate) easily exceeds an estimated 20 trillion Kwh’s by 2050. Even with an attendant tripling of non-nuclear systems, such as hydroelectric to avoid fossil fuel depletion, nuclear power system generation would have to increase by a factor of 6 to meet requirements. This increase in nuclear energy production flies in the face of a rising discontent with adverse environmental effects of nuclear waste disposal, where some plants are being converted to utilize fossil fuels. A clean renewable source of energy must be found and implemented. Space Colonization can lead to solutions to this problem. Colonization of Space would become self-sustaining and result in the eventual colonization of the galaxy North American AstroPhysical Observatory (NAAPO) Last modified: May 13, 2006. http://www.bigear.org/CSMO/PDF/CS08/cs08p10.pdf The next step would be in the future, with the development of small self-supporting colonies in space. This seems highly speculative now, but much technological progress can be expected on a 1,000 year time scale, which is short compared to the scope of this essay. In space, solar energy would be readily available, and sufficient sources of raw materials would probably be found in asteroids and planetary satellites. The development of this type of economy would be significant, since if it was successful in being self-sustaining, then it could eventually result in units leaving the solar system under thermonuclear power, and slowly moving out to colonize the galaxy, over a period of 1 million years or so. There are about 100 billion stars in the galaxy, and there are probably planetary systems near a large fraction of them that are a source of raw materials, with the star available for energy, so in this sense the long term limits to growth would be pushed back far beyond the present ones. The percentage annual growth rate of the total human population even with space colonization is never likely to be as large as the current rate of about 2 percent (unless almost all of the human population is wiped out and the growth starts from a low base level again). The reason is that according to the laws of physics it would be impossible for a wave of colonizing spacecraft to move out through the galaxy faster than the speed of light.* (*Assuming colonies produced a uniform population density in the galaxy, the fractional increase per unit time of volume of space populated by a wave of colonizers moving at the speed of light (c) is equal to 4πr 2 c/(4/3)or 3 = 3c/r where r is the radius of the volume colonized. Thus, the fractional rate would be 2 percent per year when r equals 150 light-years, but less than 2 percent if r is greater. Furthermore, actual velocities would be well below the speed of light reducing the rate even more. Thus, it seems that the current human population increase rate is unlikely to be ever again attained. At 1 percent of the speed of light, a few million years would suffice to complete the colonization.) Of course, it is quite possible that humans would not be the only intelligent species colonizing the galaxy in this way. In that case growth of a different sort — intellectual growth above that developed by just being in space — would very likely result from the meeting of the two cultures — even if the population and economic growth were thereby limited. Thus, the effort to establish habitations in space should be encouraged. Even though the cost of putting man in space is significant, so was the cost to the European courts of the 15th and 16th centuries of sending Columbus (and others) out to explore the western Atlantic. We cannot expect to predict the most important benefits that would accrue from a prolonged effort in establishing man in space. Some less important ones would be a great advance in understanding the nature of the universe, of which the phenomena on earth are only an insignificant part; the tapping of new energy sources, possibly including the production and controlled feeding of miniature black holes; and a new realization of the vast range of capabilities of human beings to live satisfying lives in unconventional environments. While we would not expect the colonization of space to have an immediate effect on the pressure of population against resources back on earth, in the long term it probably would be beneficial as new technology developed in space was applied back on earth. This sort of transfer between colonies and parent societies has been a pattern during the last million years. Surely we owe to future generations this opportunity for future growth and development of the human species. Directory: Seminar-Reports Seminar-Reports -> Field-programmable Gate Array Seminar-Reports -> Fpga redirects here. 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