Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Colonization of the asteroids

The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.

The result of the debate was Snowball Keep. Tawker 05:42, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Colonization of the asteroids

NOTE: See more extensive, parallel debate at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Colonization of Mercury.

This article is speculative and unencyclopaedic in my opinion. If colonization of asteroids should ever occur we would want an article on it, but I don't think we need one right now. We do not try to predict the future. Worldtraveller 11:16, 8 May 2006 (UTC)

• Keep. Can be encyclopedic if all of its information comes from reputable sources (NASA studies, for example). There is nothing preventing us from having articles about future events or even presenting predictions about future events as long as we are not the originators of the predictions (they come from a reputable source). —Cuiviénen (talk•contribs), Monday, 8 May 2006 @ 11:25 UTC
• Keep. Discusses future possibilities which are being thought of. Definitely not something that has been created as a joke. --soUmyaSch 11:29, 8 May 2006 (UTC)
• Keep. siafu 12:30, 8 May 2006 (UTC)
• Keep - legitimate article about the idea of colonising the asteroids, an idea often discussed by enthusiasts for space colonisation and in science fiction. Any faults with current article are reasons for editing, not for deletion. Metamagician3000 13:47, 8 May 2006 (UTC)
• Merge to colonization of the outer solar system.--Isotope23 16:25, 8 May 2006 (UTC)
• Keep per above args. — RJH 16:33, 8 May 2006 (UTC)
• Keep per above args. LeoO3 17:00, 8 May 2006 (UTC)
• Keep as with other colonization articles. Bucketsofg✐ 17:07, 8 May 2006 (UTC)
• Strong Delete, per nominator. Fluit 17:11, 8 May 2006 (UTC)
• Merge and delete. Wikipedia is not a crystal ball. In particular, see the very first sentence: "Individual scheduled or expected future events should only be included if the event is notable and almost certain to take place." Merge, at best. Kafziel 17:20, 8 May 2006 (UTC)
  • Strong keep From the same policy cited above "It is appropriate to report discussion and arguments about the prospects for success of future proposals and projects or whether some development will occur, provided that discussion is properly referenced."--agr 03:52, 9 May 2006 (UTC)
• Keep Speculation is OK, so long as it is Professional Speculation. Article is a stub and needs work, though. Ted 17:48, 8 May 2006 (UTC)
• Strong keep - because it (ideally) discusses objective, factual information about the great deal of past and current commentary and technical research on these ideas, a great deal of which has been funded by NASA and other space organizations and which has been carried out in peer-reviewed scientific literature, the record of which is entirely a matter of fact, not speculation. The first peer-reviewed scientific paper on colonizing another planet (by Carl Sagan in the prestigious journal Science, on the potential to terraform and colonize Venus) was published almost fifty years ago, and such literature has been growing exponentially since then. Such factual information on past and ongoing research and commentary is no more speculative in nature than is any subject of scientific or engineering research. The Colonization of Mercury page is so far sparse and lacking in sources, but those should be remedied by further work, not by trashing a valuable subject. See also e.g. Terraforming, Planetary engineering, Robert Zubrin, Gerard O'Neill, Martyn J. Fogg, The Mars Society, The National Space Society, the Journal of the British Interplanetary Society, Carl Sagan, Wernher von Braun, Verein für Raumschiffahrt, and the links from these articles. And this is besides the further value of the entries to provide factual information on the idea of colonizing these planets in literature and the arts and as a subject of anthropological, cultural and sociological interest. See also more extensive debate at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Colonization of Mercury, and see Wikipedia:WikiProject Space Colonization. - Reaverdrop 18:36, 8 May 2006 (UTC)
• Keep but expand, cleanup, fix. The article is not much right now, but it could become a well balanced article, not about a putative future event, but about a concept that may or may not be developed upon. :) Dlohcierekim 18:32, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

Oh, my. Barring what I said above, merge into Colonization of the outer solar system. :) Dlohcierekim 18:35, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

• Keep - Georgewilliamherbert 04:21, 10 May 2006 (UTC)
• Keep - Yet another irresponsible request for deletion about a very well documented subject that many legitimate scientists have discussed. Judgesurreal777 23:20, 10 May 2006 (UTC)
• Strong keep Very well documented and very credible in the scientific community. Beno1000 01:06, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.