pstarr wrote:So ipswitch, I take it that is a "big no-go there buddy on the space travel thingy?"
Yes indeed. A BIG no-go. Work out the numbers. Look at what's been done so far.
As to the economics of space travel, I remember someone several years ago stating that the cheapest thing to return from outer space is information. It is rather paradoxical, but as far as I can tell, it's true. It's also consistent with the most successful uses of space travel so far:
- Communications relaying
- Navigation: GPS and the like
- Observation, like weather satellites, spy satellites, and space telescopes