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bezoarboy t1_j1xaw5m wrote

It’s fiction, but watch / read the Expanse for one take on how Earth, asteroid “Belters”, and Mars colonists might diverge

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wyseguy7 t1_j1ykhij wrote

Might also consider “Red Mars” by Kim Stanley Robinson

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blackwe11_ninja t1_j1x9utg wrote

They will be highly trained, skilled and tough individuals working far away from families for a long periods of time in extremly dangerous environment, locked together in confined space for most of the time. I don't think "space miners" are going to settle in space permanently, they will more likely be working on several months or years long contracts with some mining company and then return home to spend money they earned.

So esentially, they will be like present day oil rig workers.

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jdrewc t1_j1xbgyf wrote

Morality is based around the social contract for behavior-access relationships. It's based on the concept of scarcity though. If there's true abundance then morality would likely be reduced to "Dont physically harm others", if that

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Dragonshaggy t1_j1xl7ub wrote

My hot take: space mining will be conducted remotely and likely highly automated. No need for human miners to leave the earth to make it happen.

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nesquikchocolate t1_j1xmfre wrote

Life support is already significantly more expensive than a lot of the automated mining equipment we already have, working underground.

Maintenance is a concern, but lots of places are researching human-like robots, which would ideally be capable of performing most simple maintenance items (tightening a hydraulic hose, replacing a worn pin in a joint) - major maintenance would most probably not occur, machines would be a little over designed, run-to-distruction in a year or two and then just replaced....

There's also little sense in making the thing that brings back the goods, also bring back the mining machines, as this additional weight is definitely not the same value as the goods.

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ashley_vigil t1_j1x9zcr wrote

Space mining for sure would need to be governed, but I think it would be by an Earth-based international treaty. A permanent colony in space would need its own government though I think.

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4thDevilsAdvocate t1_j1xdm17 wrote

How should we know, and how could we possibly predict it accurately?

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colirado t1_j1xec4i wrote

There’s a great book series called “Red Rising” by Pierce Brown. His vision is future society where people are divided by caste. And the miners are on the lowest rung. The people at the top live extravagant lifestyles on mars surface while the minors toil for generations underground not knowing that the planet above is already terraformed.

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Naive_Moose_6359 t1_j1xi7cd wrote

I read a book a few years ago called Asteroid Mining 101 that was a pretty technical dive into the minerals in each type of asteroid and how to get them back to earth. It doesn’t talk about the societal impacts as such, but some near earth asteroids have so much value it would radically change the equation on the value of each kind of metal. Super technical book.

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FrostyAcanthocephala t1_j1xi86q wrote

"The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" by Heinlein might be of interest.

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SpartanJack17 t1_j1y973r wrote

Hello u/Delta_Hammer, your submission "Space Society" has been removed from r/space because:

  • Such questions should be asked in the "All space questions" thread stickied at the top of the sub.

Please read the rules in the sidebar and check r/space for duplicate submissions before posting. If you have any questions about this removal please message the r/space moderators. Thank you.

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NikStalwart t1_j1y9nft wrote

> What kind of society would a space-mining industry produce? Would the space-miners keep Earth values and structures? Would they need a government at all? What functions would a government serve?

Slow down Gonzales! What are "Earth Values"? We don't have a single set of values on Earth - some people can't yet decide that beating women and noncing kids is a bad idea. And you want some space miners to adopt some "Earth Values"?

I was tempted to treat this question seriously and write about the legal and social structures that might develop but then I realized that this question seems more like someone phishing for homework or fanfic ideas rather than a genuine question. So my question to you, OP, is: what do you think society will become? Et cetera.

I will say just one thing though: whatever else happens, unless we discover instantaneous communication, the communication delay between colonies will play a major role in the new society. At the very least, expect a resurgence in the telegraph.

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Delta_Hammer OP t1_j1yw2xo wrote

Actually it grew out of another question about orbital mining infrastructure. It got me thinking, most fiction portrays orbital minors operating in isolation like people panning for gold in the old west. But since successful mining in the old west usually attracted more miners, the establishment of boomtowns, and the eventual establishment of some kind of government to provide law and order and safe commerce, it got me wondering how that would play out in space.

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