Elon Musk

[AFTT47]

Yes, this is the crux of the problem. You may be able to maintain a database with the sum knowledge of humankind up to the present but to actually implement all of that knowledge, to manifest it into a civilization equal to the present one would be a herculean task.

On the other hand, SpaceX has advanced the state of the art in rocketry to a point most engineers thought was impossible just 15 years ago. That's just Falcon 9. Starship is an order of magnitude beyond that. That tech could be used for much more realistic endeavors such as establishing a space-based infrastructure which will eventually lead us to become a true space-fairing civilization. Barring radical life extension tech, it won't give us huge rotating space settlements in any of our lifetimes but it'll allow us to build the foundation for that.

For that reason, many of us support Musk's Mars efforts even while we acknowledge and agree that they are ridiculous. He is building the tools we need to expand into space realistically - when nobody else has the vision, resources and courage to do so.

Why would we need to ‘become a true space-faring civilization’? While I don’t deny that scientific research is serendipitous, Musk’s vision seems like a vanity project unlikely to show practical benefits in either the near or long term.

Boru

I don't suppose we do but we will be extremely limited if we don't.

Musk's vision has already shown practical benefits. Falcon 9 is a major advance over previous rockets. A practical orbital system where the booster is routinely and reliably reused at economic benefit is something most engineers thought impossible. When starship is operational, it will reduce the cost of lifting heavy loads to orbit ten-fold.