That’s just how research works most of the time. The experimental setup required to build a working prototype and prove the initial hypothesis is always going to be larger and more complex than a mass market appliance. If that appliance ever gets built depends on a huge number of factors too. If the process scales as expected, how complex the device is to produce and if a company thinks that it can make money on it. The researchers, meanwhile, are probably more worried about their next grant funding.

I just gotta say, the moderation here makes me so happy I joined this instance.

If that account only ever logged in there, maybe? I’d think they’d be smart enough to look at the most commonly used IP address by the account(s) in question. Then again, it is reddit.

I was wondering the same thing before reading the article. This is for a 28 year mission, and doesn’t include setting up the base, or power and water supply.