In the short term though the those who advocate colonization over exploration are in a desperate state of lacking a unified voice.

The greenest of all green energy sources. Unlimited safe clean energy 24/7 daily delivered anywhere. The best hope for displaced aerospace workers (short of world war 3).

Years 51 to 100 could be amazing, once we have pushed back the eco-doomstable, with great leaps of reach possible. A proliferation of space laboratories by then, and an active moonbase, might let us experiment with longer excursions towards deep space, one step at a time, perhaps designed around Lagrangian locations and displaying a sense of human design in the space we choose to inhabit. We will have abundant fuel cell knowledge and will have abandoned risky RTGs to power our space moves.

From years 101 to 150 I will have to assume that technology has plateaued and we are freed to grow as spiritual seekers. Human life is melded more symbiotically to the earth it is a part of and perhaps the earth structure is built out to embrace or enter space while at the same time remaining footed on Earth. This may take the form of a space station of fairly vast proportions. What the current biotech balloon will provide the future is unclear, be it lifesuits that mediate environments for the body or rapid healing factors, like multiple second chances at life after injury. Will microships that surround just 1 or 2 travelers make space travel suddenly viable at some point? More like hang gliding? Experiencing drift in the cosmos as a floater may be realized more important than further geological chipping and sampling.

I realize I'm a sophomore future gazer compared to some fulltime gonzos out there, but appreciate the opportunity to flex the small mind muscles…
best,
owen o'toole

Years 51 to 100 could be amazing, once we have pushed back the eco-doomstable, with great leaps of reach possible. A proliferation of space laboratories by then, and an active moonbase, might let us experiment with longer excursions towards deep space, one step at a time, perhaps designed around Lagrangian locations and displaying a sense of human design in the space we choose to inhabit. We will have abundant fuel cell knowledge and will have abandoned risky RTGs to power our space moves.

From years 101 to 150 I will have to assume that technology has plateaued and we are freed to grow as spiritual seekers. Human life is melded more symbiotically to the earth it is a part of and perhaps the earth structure is built out to embrace or enter space while at the same time remaining footed on Earth. This may take the form of a space station of fairly vast proportions. What the current biotech balloon will provide the future is unclear, be it lifesuits that mediate environments for the body or rapid healing factors, like multiple second chances at life after injury. Will microships that surround just 1 or 2 travelers make space travel suddenly viable at some point? More like hang gliding? Experiencing drift in the cosmos as a floater may be realized more important than further geological chipping and sampling.

I realize I'm a sophomore future gazer compared to some fulltime gonzos out there, but appreciate the opportunity to flex the small mind muscles…
best,
owen o'toole

Seriously, though: to think about what the solar system will be like in 150 years, think about what Earth was like 150 years ago. The Pony Express. Sailing ships. Kingdoms and empires. Nursing (as a discipline) was new. Helium was unknown. The universe was flat. There was no place for math in chemistry.

On the other hand, orbital calculations were already robust. A turing-complete computer had been invented (on paper, at least). The first railroads and telegraphs branched out across the world. Atomic theory was spreading its wings. There were inklings there of the future that would come.

There were also all those things that haven't changed: Guinness. Tomato ketchup. Popcorn. Dancing at parties. Fighting over trade disputes. Exploring. Learning.

150 years from now, our civilization will span the solar system. Not fill it; it'll take hundreds more years to inhabit more than a fraction. It won't be just Earth, Moon, and Mars, though; our great-grandchildren will chuckle at the provincial attitudes that caused us to ignore 90% of the usable space and resources of our solar home.

We'll have made our way through several revolutions, empires rising and breaking apart, and world-altering technological leaps. In some cases we'll have just made it through, courting extinction each time. Still, we'll learn. More than we thought. (We'll wonder how we ever got along without… well, you'll find out.)

We'll be arguing about the next step in exploration: nearby star systems. We'll know a lot about them by then, and everyone will have their favorite destination; but exploration is more difficult than we expect and there will be few who are willing to expend the enormous effort required to mount an expedition. Some will have the courage to point out that it's not about a destination or a plan; it's about pushing forward. Those people (and bots, and sqoids) will ask, “What will 2310 be like?”