[HN Gopher] Alternative 3
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       Alternative 3
        
       Author : belter
       Score  : 31 points
       Date   : 2021-07-12 12:38 UTC (10 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (en.wikipedia.org)
 (TXT) w3m dump (en.wikipedia.org)
        
       | stcredzero wrote:
       | Instead of colonizing Mars, we might want to establish a colony
       | and industrial infrastructure on the Moon, using it to
       | mine/manufacture aluminum, glass, steel, oxygen, and water. (For
       | use in space, not Earth, of course.) If we can get the Moon's
       | population up to a half million, with industrial infrastructure
       | to match, the colony might be able to maintain the emergency
       | capability of gathering enough resources from Mars and the
       | asteroids to become materially independent in the event some
       | disaster befall the Earth.
       | 
       | Just the fact that the Moon is only 3 days away would make
       | achieving the above situation a lot easier than achieving the
       | equivalent on Mars. Whichever Earth power controls the industrial
       | infrastructure on the Moon would also be in a position to
       | militarily dominate Earth-Moon space and the inner solar system
       | and asteroids.
        
         | wil421 wrote:
         | Plot twist. We do what you said and eventually destabilize the
         | Moons orbit from mining. It becomes a heated debate on wether
         | it's going to happen like climate change.
         | 
         | Or we do a reverse Armageddon[1] and mining causes an asteroid
         | to split and hit earth.
         | 
         | [1] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120591/
        
           | belter wrote:
           | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space:_1999
           | 
           | My most favorite of all time...:-)
           | https://youtu.be/Y6BXaGEuqxo
        
       | belter wrote:
       | Science Report 1977 - Alternative 3
       | 
       | https://youtu.be/CL4AyZASZwU
       | 
       | Alternative 3 (Remastered 2005) - Brian Eno
       | 
       | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9C0WglNI3tM
        
       | nabla9 wrote:
       | Great scifi, but unfortunately some people take this possibility
       | really seriously still today.
       | 
       | Living high tech live on earth with catastrophic climate change
       | +6 C would be still several times safer, cheaper and more
       | comfortable than living on Mars.
       | 
       | Alternatively, reversing climate change technologically on Earth
       | would be several magnitudes cheaper, easier and faster than
       | having Mars settlement.
        
       | ainar-g wrote:
       | If you want more space-related mockumentaries, I can really
       | recommend "First on the Moon" from 2005, about the "very first
       | spaceflyer programme that took place in the USSR of the 1930s".
        
         | belter wrote:
         | Russians have great space movies ! Its a shame we do not easily
         | see more of what they produce.
         | 
         | Some references and partial trailers:
         | 
         | "First on the Moon"
         | https://sovietmoviesonline.com/fantastic/pervye-na-lune
         | 
         | "Salyut-7" https://sovietmoviesonline.com/drama/salyut-7
         | 
         | "The Spacewalk"
         | https://sovietmoviesonline.com/adventure/vremya-pervyh
         | 
         | "Baikonur" https://sovietmoviesonline.com/comedy/baykonur
         | 
         | "Gagarin: First in Space"
         | https://sovietmoviesonline.com/adventure/gagarin-pervyy-v-ko...
        
           | ainar-g wrote:
           | Of these, I personally have only watched "First on the Moon"
           | and "Salyut-7" of these, and judging by the reviews of the
           | other ones, the latter is a bit emblematic wrt the problems
           | that some of these have. They will sometimes either
           | exaggerate stuff or just make stuff up to make the story
           | sound more exciting. Which is a bit silly, considering that
           | space exploration, and especially its early steps, are in and
           | of themselves deadly and terrifying enough to make for a
           | great thrill factor.
        
       | raflueder wrote:
       | Stopping by just to mention how similar this is to Alan Moore's
       | Watchmen main plot themes by character Ozymandias. I wonder if
       | Moore was sitting in front of the telly in Jun '77? There's no
       | mention of Moore of Watchmen on Wikipedia but it doesn't seem far
       | fetched.
        
         | [deleted]
        
       | zeristor wrote:
       | As mentioned this has some music by Brian Eno, which I had been
       | trying to track down for 30 years or so. It had been used as
       | background music in other things when I heard it.
        
       | hprotagonist wrote:
       | and a 6 year old Elon furiously taking notes in the living room
       | ...
        
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       (page generated 2021-07-12 23:02 UTC)