Cheap Astronomy - Dear CA #111: Practicalities

Practically speaking. Hosted by the ever practical Steve Nerlich. Dear Cheap Astronomy – Is in situ resource utilization really worth the trouble? Here at Cheap Astronomy we tend to say disparaging things about in-situ resource utilization, but usually in response to suggestions that if we want to land on Mars all we have to do is make rocket fuel out of in situ resources to take off again. While ostensibly true, a substantial amount of infrastructure would be needed to both source and refine the ingredients to make that fuel and you’d probably want to experiment with a few different methods, expect a few false starts and have a few trial runs before you’d actually put people on your launch vehicle.   Dear Cheap Astronomy – What exactly is the space economy? The Space Economy is defined by the OECD as the full range of activities that create value and benefits to human beings in the course of exploring, researching, understanding, managing, and utilising space. As we’ve previously discussed both on this and the fabulous Science on the ISS podcast, exploring, researching and understanding space are important activities– but if we are really going to move forward, more of the managing and utilizing space need to come into play.   We've added a new way to donate to 365 Days of Astronomy to support editing, hosting, and production costs.  Just visit: https://www.patreon.com/365DaysOfAstronomy and donate as much as you can! Share the podcast with your friends and send the Patreon link to them too!  Every bit helps! Thank you! ------------------------------------ Do go visit http://www.redbubble.com/people/CosmoQuestX/shop for cool Astronomy Cast and CosmoQuest t-shirts, coffee mugs and other awesomeness! http://cosmoquest.org/Donate This show is made possible through your donations.  Thank you! (Haven't donated? It's not too late! Just click!) ------------------------------------ The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast is produced by the Planetary Science Institute. http://www.psi.edu Visit us on the web at 365DaysOfAstronomy.org or email us at [email protected].