Slashdot Mirror
Company to Settle and Mine Mars
Rutgersen writes "Wired is reporting that a new startup is planning to colonize and mine Mars by 2025. From the article: 'The new company, 4Frontiers, plans to mine Mars for building materials and energy sources, and export the planet's mineral wealth to forthcoming space stations on the moon and elsewhere.'"
What a retarded idea.
Nevertheless, you have to admire the intent.
Rather than dealing with democracy and politics and the opinions of "the people" and dealing with environmental regulations and countless other limitations and concerns by other parties, these guys would jump ahead of everyone else by beating people and governments to the punch, essentially owning and controlling whatever they can touch out there. Who's going to stop them?
It's good to know that, in the future, corporations will not be hampered by government regulations or the will of the people. Space needs to be "first come, first served". If Wal-Mart and Exxon read everything in the solar system first, then damn it, they should get to do with it what they wish.
Also, I think it is a brilliant idea to continue burning fuels and manufacturing things that have toxic byproducts on this planet, with resources imported from the rest of the galaxy. That way we don't have to limit ourselves to just poisoning ourselves with the limited local resources, but can import them from off-world and poison ourselves to now end. PERFECT!
This will also be good for the average American. By the time they accomplish this, most American's will be jobless. Remember, Americans are lazy, un-creative and unable to compete with the rest of the world. Once all of our jobs (short of janitorial work) have been exported, ventures such as this will provide us with wonderful opportunities to be employed once again, providing physical labor mining and processing goods on other planets (at least, until they are able to automate it). Corporate extra-terrestrial slavery/employment will be our one way to remain relevant in the world.
Hurrah!
More likely it's a "privatization" effort that Bush chronies will poor 3/4 of NASA's budget into without expecting any results.
-------- -------- Support Wesley Clark for president!!!