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Self-replicating spacecraft, a.k.a. von Neumann probes

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-replicating_spacecraft

by gurjeet • 12 days ago

3 1 12 days ago

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en.wikipedia.org

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bell-cot• 12 days ago

discussed across a wide breadth of hard science fiction novels and stories.

It's a cool idea, but the reality is centuries away. Three points to consider:

1 - Useful spacecraft are generally bleeding-edge technology, with lots of ways for tiny faults put them out of action. We're not talking wooden rowboats here.

2 - The number of deep-mastery experts needed to build a spacecraft "from scratch" is huge. Talk to someone who's even vaguely familiar with the staffing requirements for a modern chip fab, and its whole supply chain.

3 - As technology advances, the number of experts in point #2 keeps growing. And the self-replicating spacecraft will, in effect, need all of their smarts "built in".

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