> why would an entrepreneur want to set up shop on Mars?
? New environment, new markets, new needs = lots of new and potentially huge opportunities. I'm asking myself the complete opposite question.
? New environment, new markets, new needs = lots of new and potentially huge opportunities. I'm asking myself the complete opposite question.
Go for the knowledge, but as far as ordinary human things are concerned there is no reason to go.
Until you can make an economic case for settling the poles you won't be able to make one for Mars - and the poles are LOT easier to live on BTW.
We have a base on the poles for the same reason we'll have one on Mars.
That is legal in Antartica. It's just really expensive and there aren't a lot of people who want to do it.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-08-17/white-dese...
I don't think you need to make martian mining illegal to discourage the industry. At $500 a lb, no raw materials will be coming to earth from Mars and time soon.
Where do you get that? Tourism is back near pre-bust 40,000, mostly American, a year. The expensive hotel is fully booked 2 of its 4 weeks. With near 40 treaty countries almost no binding changes are agreed, and regular plans to limit numbers remain just that.
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-30709924 https://www.yahoo.com/news/antarctica-concerns-grow-tourism-... (2013)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argentine_Antarctica https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chilean_Antarctic_Territory
One could also look at the interior of Greenland, which is Danish territory. No serious development of any kind occurs there - it's all along the coasts.
The treaty sets aside territorial claims whilst it's in force. All the claims for all countries are still there, just neutered.
What can be 3d printed on the moon (from plans made on earth) and lifted to a useful place above LEO?
I'm in favor of human off-world activities, but I think it's a joke to make some kind of free-market argument. We should do it because we should do it, not because of invisible hands.