The title says it all. In any case, here are the episodes that dropped in the past two months, starting with Episode 111. In this episode, I addressed Elon Musk’s recent decision to redirect SpaceX’s efforts toward the Moon for the time being, with the goal of creating a self-sustaining city there in the next decade. As he put it, there were several reasons for this, ranging from easier transits, more launch windows, and more rapid iteration.
This was a surprising decision, given that Musk founded SpaceX more than two decades ago for the express purpose of establishing the first city on Mars. And as early as last year, he called the Moon “a distraction. Naturally, the timing of the announcement has also led to speculation about what changed his mind. So what’s the deal? Check out the episode to learn more.
Second, there’s Ep. 112 that looks at Asteroid Mining. This fledgling idea has declined in popularity since the 2010s, when companies and investment firms were stepping up to get in on the ground floor. But with humanity’s growing presence in space, increased access, and the growing commercial space part, it is commonly believed that it’s just a matter of time before space resources become a viable industry. What impact will this industry have for life on Earth?
On the one hand, there are the environmental benefits of relocating all our mining and manufacturing off-world, which are major drivers of environmental destruction and Climate Change. On the other hand, there are concerns that it will dramatically increase the gap between the rich and the poor. In fact, several scientists and the financial firm Goldman Sachs have speculated that the world’s first “trillionaires” will get rich from asteroid mining.
But there’s another very plausible outcome: Gaining access to abundant precious metals and mineral wealth will inevitably drive down the value of both. This, in turn, will eliminate the very basis of wealth itself: scarcity. To quote George Orwell, “If at once it became general, wealth would confer no distinction.”
And here are the accompanying videos for both episodes, which is a regular thing I’m doing now. Enjoy!
Stories by Williams 