this post was submitted on 01 Feb 2025
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[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 days ago (1 children)

bad idea, and you're bad for promoting it.

[–] llamacoffee 3 points 2 days ago

Are you referring to me or to the author?

[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (2 children)

The settlement of Mars must therefore occur organically, as the settlement of America did, with small groups of pioneers creating the first farms and industries that provide the basis for supporting ever larger waves of settlers to follow.

Basically all of the first "small groups of pioneers" died, and Mars is a more hazardous place by orders of magnitude. No one who makes this comparison between establishing human settlements on Mars and the colonialist expansion on Earth should be taken seriously. It's like comparing diving to the bottom of the Mariana with going snorkeling in Hawaii.

And bluntly, Starship is a scam to extract taxpayer dollars from the government. It is not going to work. It is not intended to work. It is intended to look plausible enough to collect contract money and generate fanboyism to manipulate public opinion.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 days ago

I'm sorry but if you quote thunderfoot your point is immediately invalid

[–] llamacoffee 2 points 2 days ago

Sorry I haven't been able to watch the video you linked yet, but I thought the Wikipedia article was fascinating.

I'm curious what you mean by starship "working". They're seemingly close to booster reuse, upper stage recovery, going orbital, payload deployment, and propellant transfer. There's no fundamental reason the technology wouldn't work, right? Landing on the moon or Mars does seem like a challenge, but it's sort-of on the horizon. Return from Mars, however, now that really would be pretty crazy. Even so, doesn't this open-up new capabilities?