Let's look at this another way.
We know that the Romans could theoretically have conquered the whole of Scotland.
They didn't. That was a choice.
What could motivate them to do something in the ATL that they couldn't be bothered with in the OTL?
In short, what good reason is there to change...
What do we really know of the tribal structures up there in the Roman period?
As far as I know, the only sources are the Romans who were going "F*** that shit! Nope! Nope! Nope!"
Assuming that Rome conquered the whole of Scotland, I guess I'm puzzled by the notion that this would solve everyone's problems.
In OTL the people of the region were notoriously unruly, the terrain was poor, the weather crap, and I'm not sure how productive subsistence agriculture was up there...
Yep. Raise up another legion and navy and go conquer Ireland.
Then more legions and a bigger navy and conquer Norway.
Three hundred years later - Okay, once we conquer Tibet, we're done!
Uh uh. Can't let you get away with that.
So the Romans get all the way to the tip of Scotland.... and then what? Going by the rest of England, they leave after a couple of generations. The Scotts go back to being Scotts. So what?
Well, its likely that both the Philipines and Cuba would have broken away. Both had local independence movements and insurgencies. Cuba would have likely won independence within a decade or so. There's a chance of Philipine independence, particularly if backed by Britain, or if the other...
Maybe. My own view is that Stalin didn't particularly want allies or fellow travellers, he wanted slaves. There was no one allowed in his tent who was not wearing his chains.
Stalin was deeply paranoid and profoundly insecure, he saw any communist or communist movement he didn't directly control as a threat. A worse threat than Nazis or Capitalists.
Well, that's not rough calculations and breakups you've done. But pie in the sky.
Well, the ISS actually is in low Earth orbit and exists on a continuous supply teather of personnel and resources moving back and forth constantly. There's not even a trace of self sufficiency, beyond perhaps...
There's some basis for zero gravity manufacturing. I don't think you get a return on investment from a moon base. You might need centuries. And I think the up front costs are utterly gynormous.
I'm deeply, deeply, deeply sceptical of the economics here. And you're talking a massive...