Prison in space
The setup: Near future (maximum 50 years in future) where "only" thing changed is, that company SpaceX together with NASA and ESA found out, how to get cargo and people to space very cheap
USA decides to build a space prison. Because - it would be nearly impossible to escape from it.
Now the question. We hand wave away economical aspects (basically, we have money):
What drawbacks would we face, if we would like to build a prison in space? What challenges need to be considered? What would be impact on society? And how long can I keep prisoners there?
This post was sourced from https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/q/10332. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
1 answer
By putting prisoners in a place where they wouldn't be able to survive on their own, you are taking on a larger burden of caretaking:
What if there is a mechanical or electrical failure on the station and people die?
How are you going to keep these distant prisoners fed and basically healthy? Do you have live-in guards and staff, or are you dropping a palette of food every week or two and letting them sort it out, prison-colony-style?
How quickly can you respond if there's a problem?
Even if you send only your worst criminals there, there will be some socio-political unrest if people start dying. And unlike the prison down the road, it's harder for you to keep order or bring in extra enforcement when needed. Spaceflight might now be cheap, but is it fast and widespread?
An additional factor is economic. Yes it's much more difficult for prisoners to escape, which brings some peace of mind (unless they manage to commandeer a supply ship!). But a space station is also much more expensive to build and maintain than a conventional Earth prison. How are the taxpayers going to feel about that?
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