🌙 Why you might never see a Moon colony
Also: 5 Quick Questions for … economist Thomas Philippon on productivity growth: additive or exponential?
In This Issue
The Essay: Why you might never see a Moon colony
5QQ: 5 Quick Questions for … economist Thomas Philippon on productivity growth: additive or exponential?
Micro Reads: nuclear fusion, long-termism, energy security, and more …
Quote of the Issue
“William Bradford, speaking in 1630 of the founding of the Plymouth Bay Colony, said that all great and honorable actions are accompanied with great difficulties, and both must be enterprised and overcome with answerable courage. If this capsule history of our progress teaches us anything, it is that man, in his quest for knowledge and progress, is determined and cannot be deterred. The exploration of space will go ahead, whether we join in it or not, and it is one of the great adventures of all time, and no nation which expects to be the leader of other nations can expect to stay behind in the race for space.” - President John F. Kennedy
The Essay
🌙 Why you might never see a Moon colony
December 11, 2022 — In a stunning change of US space policy on the 50th anniversary of America’s final Moon landing, President Joe Biden announced earlier today that he was instructing NASA to postpone its struggling Artemis Moon program, including plans to build an orbiting space station around Earth’s satellite and eventually construct a lunar base. Instead, those resources — along with substantial new funding — will be devoted toward a manned mission to Mars and subsequent colonization of the Red Planet. “America was not built by those who waited and rested and wished to look behind them,” Biden said. “This country was settled and made prosperous by those who moved forward. Returning to the Moon at this moment in our history would be a nostalgic visit to the last century. Instead, we will set sail on a journey into tomorrow, a journey to another planet, putting Americans on Mars. And we plan to stay. And we plan to build. It is my hope that in time our Mars colony will not just be an American outpost in deep space — and launching pad for further colonization of our Solar System — but an outpost for all mankind.”
I could accept the above scenario (the fictional Biden speech was cobbled together from real presidential space speeches) were it to happen. Although I think building a lunar base is important — more on that below — a bold Mars First plan would be outstanding. Then again, why not both?
Of course, my bigger worry is that I won’t get either anytime or any decade soon. It’s hardly a crazy concern given that we’ve been stuck in low-Earth orbit for a half century — despite all sorts of presidential promises about returning to the Moon, then going to Mars.
While I’m confident about the sustainability and growth of an orbital economy — although with recent economic turbulence there could be an industry shakeout — I’m less so about American efforts beyond orbit, especially the government piece.
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