An Expensive Cup of Coffee
Consider the complex and expensive process of lifting materials into orbit and keeping them balanced against the grasp of earth's gravitational field. Just moving a pint of water into high earth orbit is estimated to cost over $15,000 US and takes months of multidisciplinary engineering. Currently there is no reason to believe similar factors will not apply for any inhabitable body in space for many years to come. From this standpoint alone, once hypothetical materials transportation to these large bodies has been accomplished it would make sense to keep them there, under control and under no circumstance wasted or discarded. This was a primary impetus for recently lifting a high tech urine recycling unit to the international space station, because $7,500 is a lot to pay for a one way rental on a cup of coffee.
Orbiting Debris an Ungoing Challenge
But there are other subtle yet no less important reasons to think about sustainable extraterrestrial development. The present concern over man-made locally orbiting debris is a good example. Decades of near earth utilization has led to an orbiting cloud of now useless materials from collisions, failed placements, obsolescence, malfunctions, butter fingers, and fail-safe destruction (because rocket science doesn't incorporate “self recycle” mechanisms in vehicles and equipment, rather “self destruct and worry about cleanup some other time” mechanisms are typically employed).
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