HackingTheUniverse

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Commerce in space will be driven by the demands of exchange and the economic factors involved.
Raw Materials:
Air and water are likely to be in high demand and even if they become somewhat abundant, will always remain treasured for their inherent importance. Food will be mostly manufactured locally, assuming you have the raw [...]

It has long been known that water exists in comets, asteroids, on Mars and on the Moon, but the key question has always been, “how much is there?” Shadows in craters at the Moon’s poles have been suspected to hold some ice, but there was little hope of finding enough moisture across the rest [...]

Before attempting to predict how commerce will occur in space or how government will be designed to regulate it, it is important to understand how the basic economic factors will be changed.

Comparison of Economic Elements

On Earth
ELEMENT
In Space

free
AIR
expensive

cheap
WATER
expensive

moderate
FOOD
moderate

expensive
ENERGY
cheap

expensive
TERRITORY
free

expensive
BUILDING MATERIAL
cheap

expensive
SHELTER
cheap

expensive
TRANSPORT
cheap

local-fast
COMMUNICATIONS
nonlocal-slow

Even though air and water may be available in abundant supply (in the asteroids and on moons) it [...]

Prior to this date, many large water driven clocks were using gearing techniques to maintain their accuracy. These were documented in Spain and China and possibly other locations. At some point in the eleventh century, arabic engineers switched over to using weights to drive the geared clock mechanisms.