[DracoTarot]

@DoctorEldritch If everything goes well he would be one out of eleven going on the first mission.

Things can change for him as the years move on, depending on what happens next. When Elon started with the Mars mission he said it will be a one-way ticket and the people going will have to say goodbye to earth and family forever. SpaceX evolved so much with its Starships and rockets that it seems space travel won't only be a one-way ticket now. Going to Mars and returning to earth has become a reality.

I can't wait for the new Starship to lift off. Rumours are it's going to be tested at the end of July. If all goes well, massive doors will open!!

3D printing houses would be the best option and the time spend constructing will also be halved. Why struggle lying bricks or martian rocks if you can print a 3 bedroom house in two days. It would be awesome LOL!!!

[DoctorEldritch]

@DracoTarot It would be nice to greet the first ship from Mars back to Earth. Let's hope the new launch goes well. Though personally, I am more excited about the energy generators for the engines, this program really does bring a proper controlled fusion solution closer, the one that would help us deal with the energy crisis across the globe.

I wonder why we're not printing houses on Earth on a massive scale yet. Must still be expensive, but I'd think there should be more of such houses around by now.

[DracoTarot]

@DoctorEldritch Actually they are already printing 3D houses and as far as I know, Germany initiated the whole concept. There are a few developers who printed duplexes and houses for clients.

Somewhere on Youtube, there's a video about the projects. I will look for it and post it!!

Printing a house works out less than half of the cost of a normal house. They basically only use extruded concrete and nothing else. While the concrete is still wet they fit all the windows, fixtures, plugs...you name it. Last is basically the wiring for electricity or solar.


Here's an example. I need to find the full video!!

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@DoctorEldritch Apologies, I think it depends on how they build a 3d house then it will still be expensive to do. Maybe a small one-bedroom house wouldn't be so expensive. :)

[DoctorEldritch]

@DracoTarot maybe more conventional house building is still the preferred method, it is more thoroughly covered from the legislation perspective. Also, maybe there is a factor that the traditional building industry is fighting the 3d printing building out of fear?

Same as coal and petrol magnates do not support renewable energy sometimes, or how newspapers were attacking radio when it first appeared. In the end, if 3d printing does the job that people do, we will need to find something new for those people to work with. They can't all be 3d printer operators.

Or maybe the reason is completely different.

[DracoTarot]

@DoctorEldritch yea I agree there will be a lot of job losses and all the companies will have much to say about the 3D printing industry that would penetrate the market. It all depends on the greed level of business owners. Fewer employees, the fewer expenses. You know there would be people out there who won't give a hoot about letting employees go.

I think the conventional house building will still be with us for many years to come and will not end soon. Most of the 3D-printed houses will be focused on a specific market. The super-rich will obviously make 3D printing their first choice.

It would still be cool if a whole neighbourhood could be printed within a month. 😏😀

[DoctorEldritch]

@DracoTarot This reminds me of that one level in TitanFall 2 where houses were constructed on an underground assembly line.

Though, personally, I think the reverse tendency could apply. With 3d printing becoming cheaper and more available, a handcrafted building may gain exclusivity and become something for the elite to afford, similar to how tailoring agencies and mass-produced clothes work now. As a possibility, maybe. Either way would be interesting to watch how it all develops.

[DracoTarot]

@DoctorEldritch It would be interesting to see how things unfold in the near future. I also think it would solely become available in developed countries and will catch on quickly as a new trend.

South Africa is so far behind with tech and new trends it would take another 20 years before a 3D-printed house would see the light of day here.

Like usual there will be a whole lot of red tape involved.

[DoctorEldritch]

@DracoTarot Indeed, and there are so many other things going on. AI is almost here, SpaceX is going steady, VR is on the rise and advancing. We may see ourselves some cyberpunk future in our lifetime yet!

Ah, the red tape. Not a problem exclusive to SA, though. In Tropico 6 they made puns about it when describing how EU works. I could find a video of it, but they put something like "Here in the EU we do not like cutting corners, so we put a lot of red tape around our corners so that we would not accidentally cut any".

So you're not alone in that. But at least we can joke about it, and Tropico games are generally a decent satire on how politics works.

[DracoTarot]

@DoctorEldritch I always think of this video and evolving!

[DoctorEldritch]

@DracoTarot Reminds me of Spore 😉

Simpsons sure did many interesting intros over the years.