en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/316000 Comments by Nader http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1463/1#IDComment34435046 I enjoyed the article. It is worth remembering that science fiction (so often justified by defenders with reference to its prognostication) did get things wrong as well as right-but was often very entertaining in getting it wrong, which was the whole point in the first place, and why people still look at technically dated stuff. And for sheer "cool," it's tough to beat the art in the old pulp magazines. Incidentally, an appreciation of that probably has a lot to do with the "retro" look and feel of so much recent science fiction, art included, as in ongoing comics like Rick Remender's Fear Agent. Mon, 14 Sep 2009 15:18:53 +0000 http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1463/1#IDComment34435046 http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1388/1#IDComment23659165 This will of course seem predictable given what I've written in the Review before, but I'll say it anyway-very well done. Given the prospect of long, frustrating, basic work that historically have been a poor fit with the purposes and approaches favored by private business, and the changes in the terms of R & D from the nineteenth century on (which seem to be widely underappreciated), these hopes are a longshot at best. Mon, 8 Jun 2009 20:06:28 +0000 http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1388/1#IDComment23659165 http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1296/1#IDComment14752536 Dwayne-as always, good to hear from you. I'm certainly interested in looking up that paper, which I think makes a valid point. The problem with continued population expansion, on which Suzanne and jgrote also comment, is also central to the issue. Either population growth slows, or we ultimately find any addition to our resources a temporary fix. Nonetheless, while jgrote makes some good points, I do think demographics count in space expansion, even where it becomes profitable, unless we can use AI, robotics and the like to substitute for humans-the prospect I touch on at the essay's end. Some people think this is looking pretty likely, but for the moment it's still highly speculative. Wed, 4 Feb 2009 16:17:44 +0000 http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1296/1#IDComment14752536 http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1296/1#IDComment14752528 Mr. Reilly-infrastructure is certainly a problem. Just thought I'd focus on this section of the issue. (I've dealt with infrastructure in other Space Review articles from the last two years, though; particularly "Diversifying Our Planetary Portfolio," which also addresses the prospects for expansion as discussed by jgrote.) And for the foreseeable future, I think the analogy with the Inuits is an excellent one. Wed, 4 Feb 2009 16:17:18 +0000 http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1296/1#IDComment14752528 http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1296/1#IDComment14752521 Thanks for commenting everybody. You make a lot of good points. Johnstone-point taken. The boundaries of the Middle East can be fuzzy depending on use, but I should have said "Middle East and North Africa" to avoid any such concerns. Wed, 4 Feb 2009 16:16:55 +0000 http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1296/1#IDComment14752521