Corporate Space Mining Megathread!!111

[jimmy olsen]

OH MY GOD!!! OH MY GOD!!! OH MY GOD!!! OH MY GOD!!!

Hyperventilating here!!1
http://www.theverge.com/2012/4/18/2957585/planetary-resources-space-exploration-company-james-cameron-google

Mystery company backed by James Cameron and Google executives may be an asteroid mining project

By Adi Robertson on April 18, 2012 01:37 pm

MIT's Technology Review has just gotten news of a mysterious new project that claims it will "create a new industry and a new definition of 'natural resources.'" Space exploration company Planetary Resources will be unveiled in a conference call on Tuesday, April 24th. Besides the audacious announcement, which promises to "overlay two critical sectors — space exploration and natural resources — to add trillions of dollars to the global GDP," what makes this unique is its high-profile support group. The venture is backed by Google executives Larry Page and Eric Schmidt, director James Cameron, and politician Ross Perot's son, among others.

Planetary_resources_medium

We're left to ponder, however, what Planetary Resources will actually do. Technology Review speculates that the project is an asteroid mining operation, reasoning that the other natural resources we need — an Earth-like habitat and supply of fossil fuels — aren't going to be found in space any time soon. Looking at the evidence, asteroid mining seems pretty likely at this point, especially since X Prize founder and perpetual optimist Peter Diamandis is at the head of the operation. In 2005, Diamandis appeared at TED describing an extraterrestrial environment where "everything we hold of value on this planet — metal and minerals and real estate and energy" are available in "infinite quantities." He specifically singled out asteroid mining, claiming that he could finance mining a "20 trillion dollar" asteroid full of nickel-iron alloy by speculating in the precious metals market.

The three other members listed — entrepreneur Eric Anderson, astronaut Tom Jones, and former NASA mission manager Chris Lewicki — will almost certainly affect the project, but it's more difficult to tie their work to a potential goal. Eric Anderson's experience is primarily in space tourism, which could create a new industry but probably wouldn't add up to trillions of dollars, and Jones and Lewicki have stayed mum on any grand plans.

Next week, we'll be finding out for certain what's going on, and then Planetary Resources will have to start actually making good on its impressive claims. The event will apparently be streamed, and tickets are being sold on the Museum of Flight's page, although the information there makes no mention of a new company.

[Monoriu]

What exactly are they going to mine and how do they keep costs competitive with traditional mining methods? 

[Jaron]

Why does this excite you so much, Tim?

[Tamas]

[Tamas]

Why does this excite you so much, Tim?

R you crazy? Industrialization of the solar system WILL happen. Stuff like this may indicate that it will happen in our lifetime

[Jaron]

Industrialization is about making money, and space travel is too expensive to be profitable right now. Unless they find a solid gold asteroid, I don't see how this could work and be profitable.

[Tamas]

Industrialization is about making money, and space travel is too expensive to be profitable right now. Unless they find a solid gold asteroid, I don't see how this could work and be profitable.

zero-grav factories in orbit, etc. There is a way, and it will be found. It is inevitable. It is our destiny.

[Jaron]

The problem I see with it right now --

Transportation costs
Worker costs (training to work in space/anyone who is going to work in space right now isn't going to do so cheaply)
Manager costs (who knows how to manage a space based operation? Anyone with the slightest clue is going to cost a lot of money)
Value of resources (what resources exist in space that can't be harvested more cheaply on Earth without the need for the excessive expenditures listed above?)

If Earths resources were depleted, or overcrowding unbearable I can see potential for space mining but right now its a publicity stunt.

[Tamas]

Robonauts, on-site factories, and in general, yeah, sure it will be complicated at first. What wasn't? With your attitude, you would be hunting the enemy tribe in the jungle with a club, as nobody would have bothered to try and cross the Atlantic

[Eddie Teach]

Robonauts, on-site factories, and in general, yeah, sure it will be complicated at first. What wasn't? With your attitude, you would be hunting the enemy tribe in the jungle with a club, as nobody would have bothered to try and cross the Atlantic

Nah, they'd just have waited 'til they discovered the steam engine.

[Jaron]

Crossing the Atlantic promised great riches, you know this. Slaves, spices, gold - all that man might want the brown continents of the world held in abundance.

[Ideologue]

20 trillion dollar asteroid made of nickel and iron?  Is this guy fucking high?  Is there a twenty trillion dollar market for nickel and iron?  Because the global steel industry is only valued at about one trillion.

Now, solar power satellites, that would be compelling.

[jimmy olsen]

Looks worthwhile to me, especially given inflation since 1986
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%286178%29_1986_DA

Asteroid 1986 DA achieved its most notable recognition when scientists revealed that it contained over "10,000 tons of gold and 100,000 tons of platinum", or an approximate value at the time of its discovery of "$90 billion for the gold and a cool trillion dollars for the platinum, plus loose change for the asteroid's 10 billion tons of iron and a billion tons of nickel."

[Tamas]

So, we could return to the gold standard then, or introduce a platinum one

[Josquius]

This will go down in history like those Victorian channel tunnel plans- too soon.
It will happen someday, but I'd say not until the second half of the century at the earliest. We need to drastically improve our robotics technology. Getting a proper foothold in orbit would be useful too.