One development that we have missed is the creation of artificial planets and space stations. However we have toyed with the idea of colonies on other planets, no one has really brought up the idea of us creating our own worlds in space.
This development would arise as space travel increases and the need for suitable rest stops and checkpoints for space travelers arose. While we have Mars in our solar system, we would still need to create a biodome or something of the such to compensate for an atmosphere and make the colony hospitable. Once we expand our field of travel to other galaxies however, we may come across a system that has no solid planets or anywhere hospitable potentially. If we could construct our own world with an artificial atmosphere or dome or something of the such, it could allow a place for human expansion that wouldn’t need generations of preparation.
The signs that this technology is coming are faintly present right now. This advancement is at least a generation or two away, but with our current construction capacity and the rate it is growing, there is progress. If we are able as a species fund our space programs once again, and the size of our spacecraft continue to grow, we should have no problem assembling a very small planet-like object in space. We also have a pollution problem that while somewhat curbed is still a looming threat to Earth's habitability.
Going off of the last sentence, this development would most likely be nothing but helpful. Humans would be able to leave a possibly over-polluted planet and make longer space travel trips as there would be stops in galaxies with no useable planets. I don’t think that this would hurt anyone, as humans would not be interfering with alien species since they would not be settling on any existing planets, and the environment wouldn’t be involved. However, the environment may be disturbed or destroyed in order to process the insane amount of construction needed, and it may be ransacked for animals to bring to the newly built worlds or colonies.
Honestly, this isn’t too likely to happen. Humans will most likely either just opt to build on other planets like Mars, or create some way to preserve our environment and planet from over-pollution. That pollution thing would be fun to explore, but that’s a project for another day.
Nice! I wonder how such a planet would begin--could you do something with gravity to draw in random space debris? Would you begin with a dead planet or an asteroid, then add on and terraform? It's a cool idea.
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