Corporate Space Mining Megathread!!111

[Razgovory]

Has Tim invested in it?

[Ed Anger]

Has Tim invested in it?

Just whatever jizz he ejaculated on his computer while reading the news story.

[katmai]

Has Tim invested in it?

I'd invest in it if means we send Tim into space.

[Ed Anger]

I'd invest 5 bucks for that.

[jimmy olsen]

Peter Diamandis and Eric Anderson talk about Planetary Resources plans in more details than I remember seeing before. Tech discussion begins around the 10 minute mark.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVzR0kzklRE

Highlights - The satelite will be 4 million dollars, 11kg, 1-2 meter resolution.

He also talks about melting the platinum into 100kg, 2meter diameter balls of foam and dropping them on Earth, where they will impact at 60mph.

[sbr]

How does he know where they will land?

[jimmy olsen]

He said that the margin of error was 1km, and they'd have to be dropped in the desert. I suppose they'd be aim via GPS and the like, just got to do the math and physicas will take care of it.

[LaCroix]

i share tim's excitement in space adventures, but not his faith that they will actually occur within this lifetime

[Tamas]

i share tim's excitement in space adventures, but not his faith that they will actually occur within this lifetime

I am growing ever more optimist. two asteroid mining startups, ESA planning lunar base, Chinese planning to make a mark... It is coming. There IS a chance to see an industrialized solar system before I die.

[LaCroix]

great

space industry: the elemental of tomorrow

[Tamas]

[LaCroix]

the problem with the beloved chinese is that right now it seems more like a project based around prestige. yes, i recall plans to mine the moon for some resource, but that all seems like a press release. they want to get involved in space due to the prestige that surrounds it. however, they still have massive internal issues that they must deal with first. i'm not saying it will never happen, but as of now they have a number of obstacles in their path

as for private industry, others have discussed the unlikelihood of a profitable business starting from that. the odds seem very much against it succeeding at this time

[jimmy olsen]

i share tim's excitement in space adventures, but not his faith that they will actually occur within this lifetime

ESA planning lunar base

Really!?

[Tamas]

http://www.esa.int/esaKIDSen/SEM0EU52OCH_LifeinSpace_0.html

[jimmy olsen]

Excellent!

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/04/05/nasa-asteroid-nelson/2057879/

Senator says NASA to capture asteroid, park near moon
6p.m. EDT April 5, 2013
NASA is planning for a robotic spaceship to lasso a small asteroid and park it near the moon for astronauts to explore, a top senator revealed Friday.
asteroid

    The operation would allow astronauts to explore the asteroid
    Senator says asteroid project will be included in proposed 2014 federal budget
    Mission would be preparation for sending astronauts to Mars in 2030s

WASHINGTON (AP) — NASA is planning for a robotic spaceship to lasso a small asteroid and park it near the moon for astronauts to explore, a top senator revealed Friday.

The robotic ship would capture the 500-ton 25-foot asteroid in 2019. Then using an Orion space capsule, now being developed, a crew of about four astronauts would nuzzle up next to the rock in 2021 for spacewalking exploration, according to a government document obtained by The Associated Press.

Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., said the plan would speed up by four years the existing mission to land astronauts on an asteroid by bringing the space rock closer to Earth.

Nelson, who is chairman of the Senate science and space subcommittee, said Friday that President Obama is putting $100 million in planning money for the accelerated asteroid mission in the 2014 budget that comes out next week. The money would be used to find the right small asteroid.

"It really is a clever concept," Nelson said in a press conference in Orlando. "Go find your ideal candidate for an asteroid. Go get it robotically and bring it back."

While there are thousands of asteroids that size out there, finding the right one that comes by Earth at just the right time to be captured will not be easy, said Donald Yeomans, who heads NASA's Near Earth Object program that monitors close-by asteroids. He said once a suitable rock is found it would be captured with the space equivalent of "a baggie with a drawstring. You bag it. You attach the solar propulsion module to de-spin it and bring it back to where you want it."

Yeomans said a 25-foot asteroid is no threat to Earth because it would burn up should it inadvertently enter Earth's atmosphere. The mission as Nelson described is perfectly safe, he said.

Nelson said this would help NASA develop the capability to nudge away a dangerous asteroid if one headed to Earth in the future. It also would be training for a future mission to send astronauts to Mars in the 2030s, he said.

The government document said the mission, with no price tag at the moment, would inspire because it "will send humans farther than they have ever been before."