/sci/ - Science & Math

>Wouldn't lack of genetic diversity in a space habitat pose long-range health problems for the inhabitants? Wouldn't space settlers get sick of seeing the same scenery and people for their entire lifetimes?
>These questions are grouped together because they both arise from the same common perception: That a space settler would have little or no opportunity to travel outside of their habitat.
>A situation where there is only one or a very small number of space settlements is not likely to last very long. The second habitat can be built for a fraction of the price of the very first one because the in-space infrastructure will already be in place. Additional habitats will be built not by transient laborers from Earth, but by nearby permanent space residents.
>Still, there is a persistent perception that travel from one habitat to another will be uncommon. Why? Because it will involve space travel, and, as everyone knows, space travel is expensive, difficult, complicated, and dangerous. But we must remember that the kind of space travel we typically think about here on Earth is travel from the Earth's surface into orbit, which is undeniably all four. But travel from one space habitat to another in a nearby (or perhaps even the same) orbit will be a much simpler kind of space travel.
>This type of inter-orbital space travel is not only much easier than the kinds we typically think about; it is, by some criteria, even easier and safer than air travel. In the vacuum of space, there can be no inclement weather (fog, ice accumulation, microbursts, etc.), nor air turbulence. Although radar and radio transponders are likely to be used, one could conceivably get by without them, and navigate by the stars. And consider that on an airliner, failure of all engines would mean a serious problem for everyone involved. On a space-to-space transporter, you would continue to coast in the general direction of your destination.