Join the new world

Date: 9:45 Day 4271
By: Hcmadman

Intro
This article has minimal tie in to eRepublik, fair warning.

Space flight has been on something of a Caf-pow fueled bender for the last decade, this shows no signs of relenting anytime soon.

The overwhelming majority of this spurt of creativity has come from the civil avionics sector, not government based programs or contractors.
On the civil side the focus is on 4 main areas;
◘ LEO satellite communication and photogrammetric imaging.
◘ Lunar based waystations.
◘ Mars.
◘ And the outer solar system.

But the questions of 'Why?', 'How?', and 'What For?' often accompany these sorts of ventures.

Why do we want to go?
I think no person better exemplifies the reasons we want to travel past our own orbit than:

Bob Zubrin


Dr. Robert Zubrin has a long and colorful track record of advocating for Mars exploration and settlement. The body of work he has amassed is far too great to present here, but I will attempt to convey a distillation of his motivations.

Firstly he sees expanding humanity to another world as the logical next step in mans advancement, not only for the scientific prospects, but also as an outlet for an ever expanding population.

Secondly he believes that developing Mars will create tangible benefits to Earth beyond potential scientific pursuits, namely in resources acquisition and asteroid defense.

Thirdly, he just wants to go for the heck of it, Mars has been a lifelong passion of his.

How Do We Get There?
Although there are many civil ventures currently active in the pursuit of manned space flight, I believe nobody exemplifies the quest for ever greater capabilities than:

Elon Musk


A man of varied pursuits, Musk has taken the bull by the horns when it comes to space flight. In slightly over half a decade he has pioneered civil sector capabilities, from virtually nonexistent to running regular resupply missions to the ISS.

LEO supply runs are hardly the limit of his ambition however, many projects are coming down the line from his company, Space-X, and by the mid 2020s payload to orbit capabilities could triple.



Wider Motivation
There are other destinations than Mars though, many people want to go back to the moon, for reasons ranging from building telescopes to building hotels.

This breed is well known and found throughout history, however there is a different breed with more wide ranging plans.

Planetary Resources


Though far from unique, Planetary Resources is a banner for the many mining and exploration startups that have formed over the last few years. Their plans are to mine the outer solar system and the asteroid belt for mineral resources, both to increase 'deep space' infrastructure, and to return mineral wealth to the Earth. Elements that are rare on Earth may be found in abundance out there, and their ventures should prove beneficial to all once sufficient hardware is developed to facilitate them.

The Final Frontier.
New Societies, Colonies, & Independence From Earth

With such ambitions and advancements it is inevitable that we will go to the stars, what values and beliefs we bring with us will shape our outposts.
Just as in the past, new frontiers will provide an outlet for those who have vision or seek to escape oppression. The possibilities are too numerous to count.
One thing is certain, at some point new governments will be instituted, and new societies will be formed. The prospect of an overarching stellar government is both preposterous and unrealistic.

How The Heck Does This Tie In To eRepublik?

The Real New World
That's right space cadet, eRepublik and other similar conclaves serve as de facto laboratories for these new societies. (I said it was a "minimal tie in")

So go forth, and prepare yourselves for history!