HRogge Wrote:Still, getting enough people to an extrasolar place and make it self-sufficient is a huge deal of effort... not making the colony self sufficient and keeping it alive from Earth might be even harder...The key bit here is that going exosolar is a huge-assed hassle for Fen. At least in the first generation or so of Fenspace, the Fen have sweet fuck-all for infrastructure and most of what's available is going to building up Luna, Mars, Callisto and Venus. A decently sized nation with a functional economy and working infrastructure could plant a colony around Alpha Centauri B (or Lalande 21185, or Epsilon Eridani, or Epsilon Indi, etc.) and maintain a supply chain with orders of magnitude less difficulty and cost than running boats from Barcelona to Veracruz. Centauri B and back is less than a week's round trip--actual cargo ships take longer to reach the US from Japan. The question then becomes 'so why isn't anybody doing this?' and brings up Earth having a bigger role which inevitably leads to us not having nice things, etc.
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery
FenWiki - Your One-Stop Shop for Fenspace Information
"I. Drink. Your. NERDRAGE!"