Richard Alexander

Aspiring "Renaissance Man," Technician (Laser, Computer, Electronics, Biomedical Equipment), Space Enthusiast, Photographer, Fire Fighter, CDL-A Truck Driver

[Richard Alexander @Imagebuffet]

@DrPhiltill It is like arguing that owning a house or a Lamborghini is SOOO hard that most people can't do it. The analogous solution I hear from Mars advocates is, "Just do it; the economics will pan out naturally!"

[Richard Alexander @Imagebuffet]

@DrPhiltill How do you propose the Mars colony pay off its debt?

[Richard Alexander @Imagebuffet]

@DrPhiltill If we could transition to a remote worker economy, that would be a big step forward in settling pretty much any place we like. The pandemic gave us that experiment. In theory, most office workers could work from home. In reality, management fights this tooth and nail.

[Richard Alexander @Imagebuffet]

@DrPhiltill Mars gets smacked by asteroids, too.

[Richard Alexander @Imagebuffet]

@DrPhiltill ?? You think that siphoning billions, maybe trillions of dollars and human potential from Earth to Mars won't have an effect on Earth?

[Richard Alexander @Imagebuffet]

@DrPhiltill The most practical arguments I could make against Mars are analogous developments. We have many examples of failed human settlements. We see why some fail while others succeed. At the top, the fact that settlements fail under Earth's environ suggests that Mars is near impossible.

[Richard Alexander @Imagebuffet]

@DrPhiltill Oh, this is going to be an epic disaster!

[Richard Alexander @Imagebuffet]

@DrPhiltill It's true that humans can survive like wild animals on Earth, needing only food, water, air, shelter. That's not to say that these things you named give no survival advantage to us. We probably could not have 8 B people w/o autos, aircraft, fossil fuels, etc. or equivalent.

[Richard Alexander @Imagebuffet]

@DrPhiltill This explanation implies that Moon has a miles-thick lay of glass, which, in fact, it doesn't.

[Richard Alexander @Imagebuffet]

@DrPhiltill I haven't seen a good explanation for why Moon *isn't* miles deep in dust.

[Richard Alexander @Imagebuffet]

@DrPhiltill I don't believe that the primary problem of settling Mars is an engineering problem, tho the engineering problems certainly add to the liability of settling Mars. The primary problem is that Mars is not going to deliver enough benefit to convince people to pay the expense of it.

[Richard Alexander @Imagebuffet]

@DrPhiltill I don't think that anybody can make a reliable economic model of Earth, never mind of Mars.

[Richard Alexander @Imagebuffet]

@DrPhiltill I think it's a good idea to be skeptical of expensive, risky ventures in general. No, I have not run any economic model on settling Mars. That isn't something I have an interest in doing, nor would it matter if I did run such a model, because everyone would continue as they wish.

[Richard Alexander @Imagebuffet]

@DrPhiltill @JeffGreason Silicon Valley exists because the US federal gov pumped billions of dollars into the area to create it for its usefulness in military aviation. This created an ecosystem that has continued to support it. Mars has no such seed.

[Richard Alexander @Imagebuffet]

@Shanunis7 @KeystoneSP @greg_price11 "Recent studies show that up to 10 percent of Caucasian girls and 23 percent of African American girls are showing signs of puberty by age 7."

https://t.co/BuaOxNAFm4

[Vlenuveno @vlenuveno]

https://t.co/CyAMjOnT18

[Richard Alexander @Imagebuffet]

@Ryan_v404 @jeffrichey @wapodavenport @IntelCrab Could be. Wait until we see the contents of that announcement. I bet it's more than just, "isn't science wonderful."

[Richard Alexander @Imagebuffet]

@Ryan_v404 @jeffrichey @wapodavenport @IntelCrab Normally, I wouldn't have a problem w a President doing that. However, everything this President has done has been duplicitous chicanery. Add that no President has ever simply promoted the 1st results of a science mission from the WH. It's suspicious.

[Richard Alexander @Imagebuffet]

@allan1144 @AstorAaron @Heather00001417 @drvolts Yes, that is my point.