[adrianN]

Yes there are very good reasons not to put 10000 nukes on a ship and try to launch it. But it would be extremely cool to have manned missions to the gas giants and to send probes to nearby stars. I don't see how that will be possible without nuclear propulsion.

[robbedpeter]

Asteroid mining first - we will need processing and refinement infrastructure in space, to start building facilities that aren't in earth orbit, so they don't pose radioactive threats. It's thought that there is a lot of uranium and other nuclear fuels available in asteroids throughout the solar system.

Once asteroid mining kicks off, all sorts of possibilities open up that are overly expensive or dangerous for earth based enterprises.

[ianai]

Totally. I wonder about turning larger asteroid(s) into colonies/ships themselves. There’s one large one that already orbits between mars and the outer planets with a sizable radius. I wonder about hollowing it out and building essentially a large city in its interior.

Edit-I think it’s 1036 Ganymed.

[robbedpeter]

Mi pensa da beltalowda gonya fo tenye tugut liviting ere da belte!

We just need to crack longevity, space elevators, and asteroid mining. A lot of the engineering for in system spaceflight is engineered already.

With ever improving automation, belt mining probably won't ever be a human occupation in the way 20th century sci-fi envisioned, but living in space is looking like it will be very safe. We'll need lots of water shielding, massive engines and this massive ships, and deliberate regimented exercise and medical monitoring. We'll have to incorporate massive redundancies in environment and nutrition and waste processing, so long term high output nuclear will likely be the only option.

I'm excited to see the birth of space mining in the next decade or three.