Hattip to my Bride who brought this to my attention. The late great Poul Anderson wrote Tales of the Flying Mountains about asteroid mining in the future, and the new polities the miners created. Most people, including myself, who back space exploration dream of a faster than light drive. However, there are enough wonders and mysteries in our own solar system to keep us busy for the next century while technology catches up with that dream. Enthusiasts for asteroid mining understate the difficulties and overstate the profit, but drone technology alone demonstrates that asteroid mining is no longer restricted to science fiction. We are still in the baby steps portion of the Space Age, but each baby step will lead on to the next and the next, until giant strides become the norm. Time to be at it.
If you want to get to Mard and beyond to the Astroid Belt and the moons of Jupiter, you need this:
https://youtu.be/1xJlwJScb0Q
Sadly, Don, you’re too old to be an astroid miner and I to be the reactor operator of your spacecraft. The Navy won’t even let my rotund behind on a submarine any longer!
Mars not Mard. Argh!
We seasoned citizens have a part to play LQC:
“‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.