Asteroids Provide Sustainable Resource, Study Finds

[ScienceRocks]

Asteroids Provide Sustainable Resource, Study Finds
Asteroids provide sustainable resource, study finds

May 30, 2013 — The prospects of a robotic manufacturing base operating off Earth is not as far-fetched as it used to be according to a study published by a team of NASA researchers led by a Kennedy Space Center physicist.

Because asteroids are loaded with minerals that are rare on Earth, near-Earth asteroids and the asteroid belt could become the mining centers for remotely operated excavators and processing machinery. In 20 years, an industry barely imagined now could be sending refined materials, rare metals and even free, clean energy to Earth from asteroids and other bodies.

In their paper called "Affordable, Rapid Bootstrapping of the Space Industry and Solar System Civilization," published in the Journal of Aerospace Engineering, Phil Metzger, Anthony Muscatello, Robert Mueller and James Mantovani detail an intriguing path toward developing a self-sustaining, space-based industry that would use resources from asteroids and other heavenly bodies to meet the needs of humanity.

 

[dilloduck]

Asteroids Provide Sustainable Resource, Study Finds
Asteroids provide sustainable resource, study finds

May 30, 2013 — The prospects of a robotic manufacturing base operating off Earth is not as far-fetched as it used to be according to a study published by a team of NASA researchers led by a Kennedy Space Center physicist.

Because asteroids are loaded with minerals that are rare on Earth, near-Earth asteroids and the asteroid belt could become the mining centers for remotely operated excavators and processing machinery. In 20 years, an industry barely imagined now could be sending refined materials, rare metals and even free, clean energy to Earth from asteroids and other bodies.

In their paper called "Affordable, Rapid Bootstrapping of the Space Industry and Solar System Civilization," published in the Journal of Aerospace Engineering, Phil Metzger, Anthony Muscatello, Robert Mueller and James Mantovani detail an intriguing path toward developing a self-sustaining, space-based industry that would use resources from asteroids and other heavenly bodies to meet the needs of humanity.

free energy ? Cmon man

 

[ScienceRocks]

"Now that we know we can get carbon in space, the basic elements that we need for industry are all within reach," Metzger said. "That was game-changing for us. The asteroid belt has a billion times more platinum than is found on Earth. There is literally a billion times the metal that is on the Earth, and all the water you could ever need."

"You could grow an industry that is a million times bigger than the United States' in the main asteroid belt," Metzger said. "Then you really are capable of terraforming planets and doing all the other great things because it wouldn't cost you anything" in terms of labor, resources or materials.

All the resources humanity will ever need.

 

[ScienceRocks]

Asteroids Provide Sustainable Resource, Study Finds
Asteroids provide sustainable resource, study finds

May 30, 2013 — The prospects of a robotic manufacturing base operating off Earth is not as far-fetched as it used to be according to a study published by a team of NASA researchers led by a Kennedy Space Center physicist.

Because asteroids are loaded with minerals that are rare on Earth, near-Earth asteroids and the asteroid belt could become the mining centers for remotely operated excavators and processing machinery. In 20 years, an industry barely imagined now could be sending refined materials, rare metals and even free, clean energy to Earth from asteroids and other bodies.

In their paper called "Affordable, Rapid Bootstrapping of the Space Industry and Solar System Civilization," published in the Journal of Aerospace Engineering, Phil Metzger, Anthony Muscatello, Robert Mueller and James Mantovani detail an intriguing path toward developing a self-sustaining, space-based industry that would use resources from asteroids and other heavenly bodies to meet the needs of humanity.

free energy ? Cmon man

Like I said I don't understand why anyone says "free", but I'll say within human context close to limitless. Humanity don't have to worry about extinction or the limits of resources if we take this step. Think about it.

 

[RoadVirus]

Insert Bruce Willis/Armageddon jokes here.

But seriously...the amount of resources found on an asteroid would have to be plentiful enough to justify the expense of getting the equipment there.

 

[Sallow]

Mining the asteroid belt.

What could be cooler?

 

[Mr. H.]

Why bother?
We'd eventually reach Peak Asteroid.
Just ask Jiggs.

"Sustainable"?
Pffft....

 

[whitehall]

The resources that the neo-trekkies dream about would not match the energy expended to build the hardware and fuel the space ships to get there.

 

[ScienceRocks]

This right here is why the republican party is dying. No vision and just hollow words that don't give the population in this country any hope. Well, private corporations are coming forward, but you won't support them, as you say it can't be done. People in the past said that flying can't be done but it is being done.

Makes me mad as I'm a social conservative and all my beliefs are going down with them. Need a party that wants to push humanity forward that doesn't want to turn America into Norway.

 

[Montrovant]

Those of us who enjoy sci fi have been waiting for this for a long time.

 

[dilloduck]

This right here is why the republican party is dying. No vision and just hollow words that don't give the population in this country any hope. Well, private corporations are coming forward, but you won't support them, as you say it can't be done. People in the past said that flying can't be done but it is being done.

Makes me mad as I'm a social conservative and all my beliefs are going down with them. Need a party that wants to push humanity forward that doesn't want to turn America into Norway.

I see---it's a political agenda. Do you see a lot of Democrats shooting for the moon?

 

[dilloduck]

Those of us who enjoy sci fi have been waiting for this for a long time.

this will cost more than a comic book.

 

[ScienceRocks]

This right here is why the republican party is dying. No vision and just hollow words that don't give the population in this country any hope. Well, private corporations are coming forward, but you won't support them, as you say it can't be done. People in the past said that flying can't be done but it is being done.

Makes me mad as I'm a social conservative and all my beliefs are going down with them. Need a party that wants to push humanity forward that doesn't want to turn America into Norway.

I see---it's a political agenda. Do you see a lot of Democrats shooting for the moon?

I do see some private corperations shooting for it Maybe we should sit back and enjoy.

 

[Montrovant]

Those of us who enjoy sci fi have been waiting for this for a long time.

this will cost more than a comic book.

Hey, I didn't say it's feasible right at the moment! But sometime, we are going to start serious exploring space and utilizing the resources out there, just like in all of the sci fi novels and movies, dammit!

 

[ScienceRocks]

It's time to start mining the moon

Lunar mining start-up Moon Express is testing robotic moon landers in advance of a 2015 trial mission. Internet entrepreneur Naveen Jain tells Paul Marks why he founded the firm, and why he's leaving the pursuit of asteroids to rival space miners

How did you go from internet businesses to moon mining?
I'd been looking at how to solve big problems in alternative energy. A lot of the time, innovative ideas don't get very far because we just don't have the affordable material resources here on Earth. Take platinum, for example, which could possibly be used as a catalyst for fuel cells in hydrogen-fuelled cars. It is so expensive here on Earth. Or helium-3, which you could potentially use in future fusion reactors to create a non-radioactive energy source. We got to wondering if we could harvest such materials from space, and specifically from the moon. There are so many riches in space: why not go and get them?

You mentioned platinum and helium-3, what other resources can you mine on the moon?
All the gold, cobalt, iron, palladium, tungsten and so on mined from Earth's crust came from asteroids that hit Earth after its crust cooled. These same types of asteroids bombarded the moon throughout its history, so we can expect the same resources to be available on or near the lunar surface.

Others believe asteroids are the best source for such materials. Why shoot for the moon?
My thinking has always been: why go to an individual asteroid when the moon has been an aggregator of asteroids for billions of years? Look up at the moon on a clear night and all you see are craters where asteroids have struck. And because the moon has no atmosphere, and there is no tectonic activity, all of the asteroid material is still sitting there on the surface. It has already been crushed, so it is all ready to be processed. Moon mining will be mostly open-skimming of surface materials.

Additionally, the lunar gravity is of tremendous benefit because it means equipment used on Earth for gold or platinum mining can be modified to work there.

It's time to start mining the moon - opinion - 31 May 2013 - New Scientist

 

[Mr. H.]

It's beginning to look more feasible to mine the moon than to drill the eastern Gulf of Mexico. Or ANWR. Or the east and west OCS.

 

[ScienceRocks]

It's beginning to look more feasible to mine the moon than to drill the eastern Gulf of Mexico. Or ANWR. Or the east and west OCS.

Yep,

A lot of people within this country don't want to fuck up the environment on our planet. This may in fact drive us into the solar system.

 

[Mr. H.]

But if we bring all these metals, ores, and materials back to earth for processing... then the processing itself will bespoil our environment.

 

[Glensather]

But if we bring all these metals, ores, and materials back to earth for processing... then the processing itself will bespoil our environment.

Then don't process it on Earth.
Process it on the Moon.

A lot of people don't understand that, after the initial wave of space miners, we'd set up to build a shipyard in space, either in orbit around the earth or on the moon. By building them up there, they would be cheaper, bigger, and highly cost efficient, as the amount of energy they would consume would go down considerably.

Just think: Assuming we don't fuck it up, we'd have colonies on the Moon working at a massive shipyard in just 40 years! That's not even the optimist view, that's the realistic one!

(Also, Matthew, have you looked into Planetary Resources? It's a startup company that wants to mine asteroids by 2020.)

 

[Mr. H.]

But if we bring all these metals, ores, and materials back to earth for processing... then the processing itself will bespoil our environment.

Then don't process it on Earth.
Process it on the Moon.

A lot of people don't understand that, after the initial wave of space miners, we'd set up to build a shipyard in space, either in orbit around the earth or on the moon. By building them up there, they would be cheaper, bigger, and highly cost efficient, as the amount of energy they would consume would go down considerably.

Just think: Assuming we don't fuck it up, we'd have colonies on the Moon working at a massive shipyard in just 40 years! That's not even the optimist view, that's the realistic one!

(Also, Matthew, have you looked into Planetary Resources? It's a startup company that wants to mine asteroids by 2020.)