From: PointedEars@web.de   
      
   [Please trim your quotes to the relevant minimum, as I did below.]   
      
   Kualinar wrote:   
   > Le 2026-02-24 à 09:53, Thomas 'PointedEars' Lahn a écrit :   
   >> Mr. Man-wai Chang wrote:   
   >>> possibly at Lagrange points.   
   >>   
   >> Unlikely.  Being at a Lagrange point does not mean that you do not need   
   >> thrusters to stay there (at least L1 and L2).  Also, the Lagrange points of   
   >> a system can be very far away from each body (L1 and L2 of Sol--Terra, where   
   >> solar observatories and e.g. the JWST are orbiting, respectively, are 1.5   
   >> million km away from Terra).  Standard orbits are much less expensive in   
   >> terms of fuel, both maintaining them and getting there and back.   
   >   
   > The L4 and L5 Lagrange points are pretty stable,   
      
   Which is why, in the Sol System at least, they are teeming with asteroids,   
   called "Greeks" and "Trojans" :-D   
      
   This is no place where you want to build a starbase, let alone a starship.   
      
   > but they are located at 1AU from us, at 60° in front and behind the Earth,   
   > forming equilateral triangle with the Earth and the Sun.   
      
   In an ideal world, for the restricted three-body problem, yes.  But there is   
   not only Sol and Terra.   
      
   > That means that any communication will incur an 8 minutes delay, one   
   > way, 16 minutes both way.   
      
   Again, in an ideal world.  But you missed the point I was making: You have   
   not only to communicate with it, you have to *travel* there and back; if you   
   want to build a starbase there you have to bring the parts there (at least   
   the parts to make the parts); if you want to build a starship at that   
   starbase, even if the construction crew can go there and live there   
   eventually, you have to bring the material there; even if you would 3D-print   
   everything there, you would have to bring the "ink" there first.   
      
   Therefore it makes no sense (to me) to begin construction of a starbase or a   
   starship at a Lagrangian point, at least not those of the Sol--Terra system.   
      
   --   
   PointedEars   
      
   Twitter: @PointedEars2   
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