Mars human base may require more robots than possible to 3D print there.
“In the following figure, I plot a hypothetical trajectory of a population from exploration/outpost phase to full self-sufficiency assuming limited cargo transfer capability. But every machine and human on Mars represents a future liability for the replacement of that machine and feeding of that human, a liability which has to be fully priced into the future. Scaling more quickly that technology and shipping capacity can support guarantees a point in the near future when those liabilities come due, machinery and local industrial capacity undergoes dramatic collapse, and everyone dies of suffocation.”
“We have seen that a labor-cost focused approach, normalized by the requirement of “self sufficiency, ASAP”, has illuminated the importance of understanding the relative cost of transportation, human labor, maintenance, and robotic labor.”
Mars human base may require more robots than possible to 3D print there. “In the following figure, I plot a hypothetical trajectory of a population from exploration/outpost phase to full self-sufficiency assuming limited cargo transfer capability. But every machine and human on Mars represents a future liability for the replacement of that machine and feeding of that human, a liability which has to be fully priced into the future. Scaling more quickly that technology and shipping capacity can support guarantees a point in the near future when those liabilities come due, machinery and local industrial capacity undergoes dramatic collapse, and everyone dies of suffocation.”
“We have seen that a labor-cost focused approach, normalized by the requirement of “self sufficiency, ASAP”, has illuminated the importance of understanding the relative cost of transportation, human labor, maintenance, and robotic labor.”
http://caseyexaustralia.blogspot.com/2017/05/a-roadmap-to-industrially-self.html?m=1