Ask Lemmy

I see no practical reason to build one on earth. It would be prohibitively expensive to build and maintain and there isn't really any point to it. On planets without a breathable atmosphere, maybe, but I don't see it happening within our lifetimes.

Can definitely see them being erected in places like Dubai considering the combination of wealth and danger from climate change. This does not necessarily mean that it'll function properly though.

Dude, one of the stated objectives of Artemis 3 is to be the first to land a woman and a person of color on the moon. That isn't happening with Trump in office. Mark me, he'll cancel it someday to make big headlines and to draw attention away from something even more insidious. Feckless career politicians and media personalities will give him a complete pass because the mission is behind schedule and over budget, without pressing on why that is or how Trump/DOGE have made it exponentially worse.

In a few hundred years

we are only 2 years away from artemis 3

Lol. We are at least three years from Artemis 3 at a minimum. More likely at least 10 even if the government doesn't collapse.

The dome makes no practical sense on Earth.

The pros don't outweigh the cons. Because the cost and the fact that the inconvenience of a special design is harder to stack vertically that well, unless you consider a hexagonal pattern of arrays.

I don’t think there will ever be domed habitats on other planets. For anything on Mars or the moon, you’re going to have to be underground due to cosmic rays.

But there always be specialized industrial or scientific use cases. Salt domes — where they store salt after mining it — are one example. A dome is just the best shape to store something like tons of salt. There’s also stuff like local weather radar stations where a dome is the ideal shape since you get a 360° of the sky. Radar isn’t new technology so, unlike a cutting edge observatory that rotates, it’s probably just cheaper to build a dome and buy however much radar equipment is needed.

There’s also decorative uses (like some churches, mosques, etc.) and sports venues in places with inhospitable climates during the season. It seems like modern stadia (at least in the U.S.) go with a retractable roof but places with bad weather during the specific sport’s season, I would assume it’s cheaper to have a permanent roof.

What for?