Comments on: Asteroid, mine

By: Robert Clark

Robert Clark — Mon, 14 May 2012 13:52:43 +0000

To do this we will need low cost heavy lift and manned missions. This can be done in a much more low cost fashion than realized:

http://exoscientist.blogspot.com

Bob Clark

By: puppygod

puppygod — Fri, 11 May 2012 07:10:26 +0000

Well, I’m sorry, but unfortunately he does appear to not know what he’s talking about. He misses the point in a quite grand way. Platinum and diamonds? Did anyone even mentioned diamonds? Also note that he conveniently skipped volatiles. Chase asteroids? So what? Just look at missions like Hayabusa and others – it is doable (dunno whether economically viable in the long run, butt certainly doable). Price of rocket fuel is up? Did I mention that he skipped volatiles that can be made into rocket fuel already up there and sold for high price? Oops. Tiny error in trajectory can cause wars? We are sending stuff into space since 1957, we are sending it up in huge quantities and tons upon tons of this stuff is falling back onto good ol’ Earth every year, some totally uncontrollably. Despite that I’m yet to hear about war caused by falling rocket stage demolishing somebody’s garden. His arguments are mostly far off the point, and that Chicxclub part is completely non sequitur. What does impact from 65 millions ago that smashed (probably) c-type asteroid over half of this planet have in common with plan of extracting volatiles and (maybe, later, if cost of operation is not prohibitive) precious and rare materials from asteroids that are already at the top of gravity well? Unless he thinks that handpicking tektites for micrograms of iridium are highly profitable enterprise, it does not compute.

By: SLC

SLC — Thu, 10 May 2012 09:21:37 +0000

Here’s a take on the subject of asteroid mining by Bob Park. Of course, I suspect that there will be some in these parts who will opine that Prof. Park doesn’t know what he’s talking about.

2.ASTEROID PROSPECTING: WHAT’S HOLDING UP A SPACE-AGE GOLD RUSH.
There was a front-page article by Joel Achenbach in the Washington Post last week about Planetary Resources, the world’s first asteroid mining business, started by space visionary Peter Diamandis and his colleague Eric Anderson. Deep-pocket investors are said to be hyperventilating. Why wouldn’t they? Untold thousands of asteroids are whizzing around the Sun right now and they’re free. Just leave your business card on an asteroid and it’s yours. But, although asteroids are free, “whizzing” is not. What are these guys thinking? You must chase asteroids down to extract stuff like platinum and diamonds, if there is any, and haul it to Earth. Meanwhile the price of rocket fuel is up and tiny errors in trajectory could lead to huge damage suits or start wars. But why bother? Some of the best asteroids are already here; Earth has been collecting them for eons. Just look for craters and start digging. Consider the Chicxulub asteroid buried beneath the Yucatn Peninsula. It got rid of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago, clearing the way for the evolution of Homo sapiens. Mining the Chicxulub asteroid should keep Planetary Resources busy for centuries. Asteroids already have a really bad rap, but I think Chicxulub may be seen as evidence that God is a businessman.

By: Jonathan Lubin

Jonathan Lubin — Thu, 10 May 2012 02:43:04 +0000

Yes, like Edgar Allan Poe, you sound much better in French than in English.

By: Chris

Chris — Wed, 09 May 2012 18:23:41 +0000

One thing I was wondering about is how much water is really out there. I’d expect Kuiper belt objects to have a lot of water ice, but I’d think any Near Earth Asteroids or those in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter would be as dry as the moon (excluding the pole which doesn’t see the sun). Over billions of years most of their volatiles have probably left. Now there could be water locked deep inside, but somehow it almost seems easier to get the metals out!

By: MikeW

MikeW — Wed, 09 May 2012 17:31:49 +0000

You do come off sounding smart in that interview, especially with those radical ideas for fixing the Greek economy, and curing cancer.

By: lepton

lepton — Wed, 09 May 2012 17:29:52 +0000

For space raw material depot, I wish we have the nuclear space gun.
http://nextbigfuture.com/2009/02/nuclear-orion-home-run-shot-all-fallout.html

Of course, I am also happy to see any derivative benefit from this Asteroid mining operation.

By: LawnBoy

LawnBoy — Wed, 09 May 2012 17:00:03 +0000

Speaking of your asteroid, how would you feel if the asteroid they started mining was the one named after you?