honestly, this is all to plunder the solar system further. Mining asteroids, etc. Of course the R&D is tax payer publicly funded and the future profits privatized. This is the way it has always been.
I guess I just don't see the point. We're not leaving earth, no one wants to life in orbital stations or habitats - nonobstant all the issues with making that happen, so why plunder the solar system? There is more matter to plunder on earth than we would need to cover the whole globe with people, what's the point of trying get our great-great-great-great-grandkids to mine asteroids? Even more questionable if it makes our own and the life of the people coming next to be measurably worse
dmbche|2 years ago