A Quixotic Quest to Mine Asteroids

[Albatross]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303513404577356190967904210.html

I hope James Cameron finds a better plot on an asteroid for his next movie.
:sneaky:
Jokes aside ,this is very interesting,although i don`t see how can one mine asteroids,unless taking the factory with them is an option.

More details

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

Hope someone wins an award for that headline.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

There are very good reasons to pursue this and none of them involve returning materials to earth for processing. The mere effort of making this a technological and financial possibility alone are worth it. Material science, robotics and the associated computational and programming advances, biological insights, all of these things which have a near term effect on us would have to be significantly advanced, and nothing motivates creative people like such a problem.

This is a necessary step in moving beyond our world. Time to start preparing.

 

[Rainsford]

There are very good reasons to pursue this and none of them involve returning materials to earth for processing. The mere effort of making this a technological and financial possibility alone are worth it. Material science, robotics and the associated computational and programming advances, biological insights, all of these things which have a near term effect on us would have to be significantly advanced, and nothing motivates creative people like such a problem.

This is a necessary step in moving beyond our world. Time to start preparing.

I agree. In fact, it's nice to see some ambition in this area again. Most of the news lately is about how we've given up on space. Hell, we rely on the RUSSIANS for getting our astronauts up there now.

 

[TheVrolok]

There are very good reasons to pursue this and none of them involve returning materials to earth for processing. The mere effort of making this a technological and financial possibility alone are worth it. Material science, robotics and the associated computational and programming advances, biological insights, all of these things which have a near term effect on us would have to be significantly advanced, and nothing motivates creative people like such a problem.

This is a necessary step in moving beyond our world. Time to start preparing.

Bingo.

 

[alzan]

Sounds like a great idea and I'd support it.

Now I just have to get control of the various episodes of Red Dwarf that keep running through my mind.

Lister: "We're 3 million miles from Earth. Can someone please explain how this traffic cone got here?

Cat: "It's not the traffic cone that bothers me. It's the meter maid helmet and garters that I can't figure out!"

alzan

 

[TheVrolok]

Daily show bit with a cameo by the man, the myth, the legend, NdGT.

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-april-25-2012/space-innovators

 

[sandorski]

Asteroid Mining will happen, but this is a risky investment. Gotta start somewhere though.

 

[EagleKeeper]

Ben bova

Setup lunar factories to process the materials in the asteroids.

Lower gravity makes it much cheaper to get materials to/from the asteroid

 

[UberNeuman]

Lovely ideas. Where does the money come from make them a reality?

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

From the 1%

Looks like a long term private venture.

 

[UberNeuman]

From the 1%

Looks like a long term private venture.

Problem is there's no quick profit from it - private parties will not fund it.... Seems like some of you want the dreaded "goverment" to take the lead on a project such as this....

If you wanted a space program in the first place, you'd never have it from those private parties - the government gave us those advances in the pursuit of space exploration....

 

[frostedflakes]

Like Hayabusa said, it's a private company, basically just some rich guys risking their money on a cool (and potentially revolutionary) business venture. It's not like there are shareholders they are beholden to and who expect a relatively quick return on their investment. All the guys who invested in this understand that it's a long-term project and if it's even successful, there probably won't be returns for a decade or two.

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

Problem is there's no quick profit from it - private parties will not fund it.... Seems like some of you want the dreaded "goverment" to take the lead on a project such as this....

If you wanted a space program in the first place, you'd never have it from those private parties - the government gave us those advances in the pursuit of space exploration....

I agree with your second paragraph, but:

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/spacexs-mission-pick-nasa-left-off/story?id=16224464

There's also:

http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_new...-of-secrecy-spaceship-design-passes-test?lite

 

[UberNeuman]

I agree with your second paragraph, but:

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/spacexs-mission-pick-nasa-left-off/story?id=16224464

"Credit to NASA

Musk credits NASA with helping SpaceX get where it is today.

The space agency in 2006 selected SpaceX as one of two partners to develop commercial cargo resupply services to the station and has paid SpaceX $381 million to date to advance its cargo capability, with another $15 million due if this month's planned flight is a success."

SpaceX with funds from NASA.... and the funds for NASA - where do they come from?

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

"Credit to NASA

Musk credits NASA with helping SpaceX get where it is today.

The space agency in 2006 selected SpaceX as one of two partners to develop commercial cargo resupply services to the station and has paid SpaceX $381 million to date to advance its cargo capability, with another $15 million due if this month's planned flight is a success."

SpaceX with funds from NASA.... and the funds for NASA - where do they come from?

That why I agreed with your second paragraph. SpaceX could not have gotten where they are today without NASA. Unfortunately NASA became a bloated government institution that lost its ability to innovate. Hopefully commercial companies can do better. Considering that a single Space Shuttle launch is estimated to cost $451 million dollars, $381 million for a much cheaper option that hopefully won't cost NASA a red cent seems like a good investment.

 

[UberNeuman]

That why I agreed with your second paragraph. SpaceX could not have gotten where they are today without NASA. Unfortunately NASA became a bloated government institution that lost its ability to innovate. Hopefully commercial companies can do better. Considering that a single Space Shuttle launch is estimated to cost $451 million dollars, $381 million for a much cheaper option that hopefully won't cost NASA a red cent seems like a good investment.

As long as the "commercial" companies receive funds from the government to, pardon the phase, Make it so!...

\seems like the same thing that the teabaggers keep whining about with TARP....
\\are the teabaggers down with funding space exploration?

 

[werepossum]

That why I agreed with your second paragraph. SpaceX could not have gotten where they are today without NASA. Unfortunately NASA became a bloated government institution that lost its ability to innovate. Hopefully commercial companies can do better. Considering that a single Space Shuttle launch is estimated to cost $451 million dollars, $381 million for a much cheaper option that hopefully won't cost NASA a red cent seems like a good investment.

Excellent post. It's very difficult for any government institution to not become a bloated government institution no longer capable of fulfilling its original function. Hopefully we're at the point where the private sector can take over providing transportation into space, but without NASA and other nations' similar contributions that day would perhaps never come, let alone come a half century after we decided to venture into space.

Unfortunately government institutions tend to linger on long past their sell-by date. I think though that NASA can make important contributions for a long time, just not with its original efficiency. Hopefully we can one day get our financial house in order and spend more on space exploration.

As long as the "commercial" companies receive funds from the government to, pardon the phase, Make it so!...

\seems like the same thing that the teabaggers keep whining about with TARP....
\\are the teabaggers down with funding space exploration?

That is the rub. The private sector is probably better able to provide space transportation today, but most of the contracts will still come from government for quite some time. Which isn't such a bad thing; government has legitimate needs and not unlimited funding. And many potential private sector interests - diverting asteroids and orbiting solar cells microwaving down power - are not really things I'd like to see taken up by Enron and GE any time soon.

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

As long as the "commercial" companies receive funds from the government to, pardon the phase, Make it so!...

\seems like the same thing that the teabaggers keep whining about with TARP....
\\are the teabaggers down with funding space exploration?

<-- not a teabagger; doesn't care about them

I want commercial companies to get off the government dole ASAP and become profitable in their ventures. The reason is simple. If commercial space exploration becomes profitable it will make the impact of the computer revolution look like a blip on the economic radar.

 

[UberNeuman]

<-- not a teabagger; doesn't care about them

I want commercial companies to get off the government dole ASAP and become profitable in their ventures. The reason is simple. If commercial space exploration becomes profitable it will make the impact of the computer revolution look like a blip on the economic radar.

The bold part I fully agree with - the first part of your post is to best sum up as "a Quixotic Quest".

\look to the current day "commercial companies" military - that suck off the gov'ment teat...

 

[ichy]

I am so sick and tired of people saying that "government inefficiency" is the reason that NASA can't get anything done. The real reason is that every few years a new politician comes in, sets some new goal and then does not fund that goal properly. Give NASA a real goal that won't be changed for the next decade and adequate funds to pursue it and I would trust them to get the job done.

 

[ichy]

I hope this space mining thing works out, but with the current cost of launching things into orbit I am not optimistic.

 

[hal2kilo]

That is the rub. The private sector is probably better able to provide space transportation today, but most of the contracts will still come from government for quite some time. Which isn't such a bad thing; government has legitimate needs and not unlimited funding. And many potential private sector interests - diverting asteroids and orbiting solar cells microwaving down power - are not really things I'd like to see taken up by Enron and GE any time soon.

Communist

 

[Moonbeam]

There are very good reasons to pursue this and none of them involve returning materials to earth for processing. The mere effort of making this a technological and financial possibility alone are worth it. Material science, robotics and the associated computational and programming advances, biological insights, all of these things which have a near term effect on us would have to be significantly advanced, and nothing motivates creative people like such a problem.

This is a necessary step in moving beyond our world. Time to start preparing.

Gort is not going to be happy.

Now what the dickens was that SF book about the guy who stayed home when humanity dispersed into space. I know there was some sort of message in that book but I can't remember what.

 

[DrPizza]

Hmmm - I have what I think is a novel thought.

In addition to the obvious reasons for doing this, demonstration of the ability to do this also could lead to a way to protect the Earth from other comets/asteroids. Providing we continue to pay for funding to keep scanning space for "things" that could impact the Earth and screw things up for us, a possible method to divert such a thing (provided we have a LOT of advance notice) would be to maneuver one of these huge chunks of iron floating around in space, and put it on a collision course trajectory with something that would otherwise be on a collision course with Earth.

There are numerous reasons why pursuing this is a great idea. However, at present time, I cannot fathom how it could be commercially successful.