“Economics And Exploration: A Bit of Historical Perspective On The New Age Of Exploration”
Summary
It has been 46 years since Apollo 11 landed on the Moon and most of the optimistic (and fictional) predictions about rapid progress to Moon bases and Mars exploration have not become reality. An analogy may be found in the age of western exploration. Why did 115 years elapse between Columbus’ discovery of the Americas and the establishment of Jamestown to begin the settlement of North America? It turns out that there were substantial economic reasons for this hiatus along with many underappreciated “features” of exploration. The age exploration has a number of interesting analogues and lessons for our current situation that can provide insight into a range of exploration issues including planetary protection, the development of In-Situ Resource Utilization, and the growth of new launch providers.
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