[ExI] Gold

[Eugen Leitl]

On Wed, May 29, 2013 at 03:24:14PM -0700, Adrian Tymes wrote:
> On May 29, 2013 2:43 PM, "spike" <spike at rainier66.com> wrote:
> > Control systems are getting sophisticated enough now that manned space
> flight doesn’t make much sense anymore.
> 
> Agreed.  At most, it might make sense to transport
> humans to fixed installations (such as colonies)
> where they might be cheaper/better for certain
> functions over the long run than robots...if only we

On the short run eliminating relativistic latency
to teleoperated hardware might make sense (though
not for the Moon). On the long run, robots will
execute plans much better, so less and less
guidance is needed.

> had any.  (The ISS doesn't qualify.)  On anything
> that needs to worry about delta-v much, they're

Need for life support and high delta v don't mix.
Long-duration microgravity high-rad and monkeys don't 
mix. Large temperature operation regime doesn't mix.
Lack of volatiles don't mix.

If you want to travel, convert to solid state.

> cargo.