The science fiction vision of our future is orbiting factories, massive space stations where you can take a holiday, captured asteroids mined for their precious metals, space elevators, etc...
Many people think that this is realistic, eventually.
The eventually is starting now.
How exactly did people think it would happen? Someone clicks their fingers and we live in a sci-fi universe suddenly? Or that magically the entire space industry will restrict their orbits to a few narrow bands to preserve the oh-so-precious long exposure views of sunsets forever?
These articles are just futile bleating.
The future just isn't going to wait for grey-haired astronomers to catch up.
PS: If we can launch satellite constellations cheaply enough to cause an issue for terrestrial telescopes, then almost by definition we can launch telescopes to space at a low enough cost to solve the problem and get a better vantage point without the pesky atmosphere in the way.
The tragedy of the commons affects not only grey-haired astronomers but everybody who wants to learn about nature. Light pollution is already so real that I assume the majority of people in "industrialized states" haven't seen milky way with naked eyes if they cannot afford traveling to very remote areas (me included, despite I have a PhD in astrophysics, which makes me technically a grey-haired astronomer).
Of course technology will eventually solve the problem and space-based observatories are superior, despite more expensive and thus makes it more difficult to make science inclusive.
The big question is: Will the shift to orbit exclude a big part of mankind from participating? Capitalism most likely days "yes" and this is, in fact, a tragedy.
I am absolutely frightened but the satellite constellation arms race. Especially by the Chinese companies that are launching constellations into very high orbits, where debris will take thousands of years to decay. These satellites are also ruining the night sky for astronomy. The public should not have to suffer for the greed of a few companies.
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[ 2.9 ms ] story [ 28.6 ms ] threadWhy doesn't Musk just put the data centers on container ships, if he wants to avoid red tape?
Many people think that this is realistic, eventually.
The eventually is starting now.
How exactly did people think it would happen? Someone clicks their fingers and we live in a sci-fi universe suddenly? Or that magically the entire space industry will restrict their orbits to a few narrow bands to preserve the oh-so-precious long exposure views of sunsets forever?
These articles are just futile bleating.
The future just isn't going to wait for grey-haired astronomers to catch up.
PS: If we can launch satellite constellations cheaply enough to cause an issue for terrestrial telescopes, then almost by definition we can launch telescopes to space at a low enough cost to solve the problem and get a better vantage point without the pesky atmosphere in the way.
Of course technology will eventually solve the problem and space-based observatories are superior, despite more expensive and thus makes it more difficult to make science inclusive.
The big question is: Will the shift to orbit exclude a big part of mankind from participating? Capitalism most likely days "yes" and this is, in fact, a tragedy.