How to Colonize an Asteroid
The ship which will carry us from the planet earth to the asteroids will be a very sophisticated piece of integrated technology, and it will have to be the home of the colonists for many years.
This ship is not something which can be bought, but even if it could, the colonists should still either build it themselves or be deeply (physically) involved in the construction process. The reason for this is that they/we will not be able to take the colony ship back to the manufacturer for repairs. Whatever happens, we must perform the repairs ourselves with whatever we have available. Only a deep knowledge of the construction process by the members of the crew can allow this.
Let's look at the different parts of the colony ship project;