Re: Building a map of habitable space

On Tue, Jan 31, 2012 at 08:58:26AM +1100, Robert N Bryett wrote:
>It's strange, but SF universes and future-histories tend to read as if
discovering FTL travel *bang* immediately leads to interstellar
exploration and colonisation.

Indeed.

For my recent Aliens-inspired space game, I started with fully-robotic
lunar mining in the 2020s, followed by a bunch of sabotage and a belated
realisation that having humans on site is actually useful - which then
leads to asteroid mining too. So by the time FTL is developed in the
2040s there's a space infrastructure in place to use it. Initial takeup
is slow, but then one company happens to find a world with biochemistry
that produces really useful drugs - and everyone else wants their chance
at the next massive profit centre.

So, wildly optimistic, but plausible-ish if you squint sideways a bit.
And that's where the optimism stops...

http://tekeli.li/this-dim-spot/