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MoreGull OP t1_ja8xcet wrote

Reply to comment by 3SquirrelsinaCoat in The Case for Callisto by MoreGull

Economics are the only realistic reason. Imagine a huge deposit of uranium is discovered near the surface on Callisto, easily mined. That would create an industry around the effort, which, due to distance, would create colonization.

Economics, mining specifically, are the only reason we will spread out into the solar system. Other than a scientific probe here and there....

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_Bl4ze t1_ja9cd7h wrote

Does that necessarily imply colonization, though? We might just send robots to mine things. Sure, there's minutes of delay because those pesky little photons can't be whipped into going any faster, but we can automate a lot of it and it's not like the task involves particularly quick reaction times, seeing as the mineral isn't going anywhere.

And with an remote-controlled miner, you don't have to worry about all the extra dead weight of the hairless monkeys and their habitat and food and water and needing to bring them back before their bones rot from too little gravity.

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MoreGull OP t1_ja9d4vi wrote

It's a question of how capable the tech is I suppose. Can robotics easily reproduce people?

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Kantrh t1_jaaig9u wrote

The energy cost to bring that uranium back is immense though.

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MoreGull OP t1_jaaivwk wrote

What If uranium is super scarce on Earth....

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Kantrh t1_jaakrwi wrote

Going all the way to Callisto to mine it still wouldn't make sense.

Uranium is actually one of the more common elements in the crust. It's just about finding an economically viable concentration and going to Callisto isn't. Aside from the fact that the surface is covered in Ice

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