Asteroid Mining May Be a Reality by 2025

a reply to: MystikMushroom

There are a lot of complications with living in space, a mining operation is going to be nearly 100% robotic. ET's very well could be on the moon but eventually ET's are going to have to live with us, we are going to advance. Unless you think they are destroying our space craft then there is no chance of contact or progression into space. If that is the case we may have to battle it out one day to escape the planet.

I don't understand how a mining operation is going to make someone filthy rich...Are important minerals going to be cheap to bring back to home? There is a market for this? Who will buy mined asteroid minerals to add up for someone to become a trillionaire?

originally posted by: Zcustosmorum

originally posted by: MystikMushroom
a reply to: StratosFear

I get the feeling we got our hands "slapped" or something before we really got going with our space program.

Would you find it difficult to believe that there is possibly a secret space program which has a higher funding than what the public see?

Oh, I know there is.

The NRO gave NASA some "old" spy satellites that were basically huge space-based telescopes:

The United States' spy satellite agency is giving NASA two spare space telescopes free of charge, each potentially more powerful than the Hubble Space Telescope, NASA officials announced today (June 4).

The two spy satellite telescopes were originally built to fly space-based surveillance missions for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), but will be repurposed by NASA for astronomical research instead. Their donation to NASA was revealed in a surprise announcement.

Both NRO space telescopes have a main mirror nearly 8 feet wide (2.4 meters), rivaling the Hubble Space Telescope, and also carry a secondary mirror to enhance image sharpness, according to press reports. NASA's Hubble telescope is a space icon that has been beaming stunning photos to Earth for 22 years.

space.com

Gee, I wonder what they're using now?

Those black triangles aren't being flown by some little green men, after all...

oh wow
i came into the thread to join in the celebrating - it has been a long-held assumption among the people i talk about this stuff with that the only possible way our society can survive with the way things are going is to get into space and start doing things with the asteroids and we've been at a loss as to why movements in that direction haven't already started [whether our society surviving is a positive thing or not is debatable but personally i'm looking forward to not having to start again from the stone age]
but wow that last post, Mushroom person... two SPARES that rival Hubble???
it's like they're not even trying to hide it anymore 0_0

The inconvenient truth is a hard pill for most to swallow. Any person who believes the United States hasn't been running a robust space program to our Celestial neighbor, the Moon, and far beyond, needs their head checked.

When you factor in untold, unaccounted for TRILLIONS of dollars missing from the coffers every decade, the counter-intuitive and irrational staged kabbosh on hikes there (the Moon), the systematic obfuscation of clear and contemporary images of planetary bodies(that make recordings from the '70's look "cutting edge"), and the mere fact that most of our unified technology, here on Earth, is light years ahead of propulsion and energy, circumstantially.

I mean seriously, up until just recently you've been force-fed B&W images of the Moon, for nearly 60 years. It took other countries and clever, amateur astronomers with jury-rigged telescopes to reign in on the sheet they've been shoveling, while liberally spending YOUR hard earned tax dollars. NASA sits in their Ivory Tower, gasping for air, while they roll on the floor hysterically, mocking your every wide-eyed sigh, as they dribble on you from above.

The problem is they still need your blood, sweat, and tears to fund their cosmic escapades. There's nothing like milking the unindoctrinatied masses, while there's "still time before the gig is up".

What if you found out, our Universe has been a lively, blustering causeway for millenniums, and your just the last fool on the block to find out you've been living in The Truman Show? What if you find out that all the real estate in our solar system has all ready been technically "claimed" and parsed by others out there? What if you've found out that humans are not the benchmark for intelligence, nor physical size, and that a sphere as close to you as the Moon covets life on it at substantially higher magnitudes in stature? And that you are on the scale, to that of an insect?

Can humanity handle propositions like that in a single gulp? I know I have.

a reply to: game over man
It's by cutting out much of the need for heavy lift. Easier to build something big in space if you don't have to move it piece by piece from the surface. Bringing stuff in and transitioning from a solar orbit to an Earth orbit is easier. And if you can have resources available like that in orbit or various orbital transits, it means you can build big, thus have people living in space because solving the problem of shielding becomes easier. Of course at first it'll be 99% R&D, but if any colonies work out it'll grow into something way beyond that.

The first one in who can keep it going will have an advantage of first dibs, and that's where the biggest opportunity to profit would be in a space-mining venture. Hard for anyone else to seriously claim something if they can't get to it.

I think the harder part isn't going to be collecting resources though (stuff like abraders flinging raw material into rotating drum collectors seems straight forward the way I'd imagine it), but rather figuring out how to process that material into finished products in a microgravity environment.

originally posted by: MystikMushroom
a reply to: StratosFear

I get the feeling we got our hands "slapped" or something before we really got going with our space program.

At least our hand was just slapped and not vaporized off, I suspect if that really were the case then I believe we got one to hold as well on our secret journeys.

originally posted by: Zcustosmorum

originally posted by: MystikMushroom
a reply to: StratosFear

I get the feeling we got our hands "slapped" or something before we really got going with our space program.

Would you find it difficult to believe that there is possibly a secret space program which has a higher funding than what the public see?

Not at all, and I could forgive those that held those grand secrets for so long should they be revealed.

Wouldnt surprise me in the least.

Worthwhile viewing. The company is local to me, serious, has ex-NASA people on board and I know one person who interned there. They know what they're doing and have already launched a prospector prototype.




This company I suspect is like Microsoft was in the early 1980s. If one is smart they'll invest if they have a chance.

Redmond, Washington – July 16, 2015 – Planetary Resources, Inc., the asteroid mining company, announced today that its Arkyd 3 Reflight (A3R) spacecraft deployed successfully from the International Space Station’s (ISS) Kibo airlock and has begun its 90-day mission. The demonstration vehicle will validate several core technologies including the avionics, control systems and software, which the company will incorporate into future spacecraft that will venture into the Solar System and prospect for resource-rich near-Earth asteroids.


The A3R launched to the ISS onboard the SpaceX Falcon 9 in April as a part of the CRS-6 crew resupply mission. “Our philosophy is to test often, and if possible, to test in space. The A3R is the most sophisticated, yet cost-effective, test demonstration spacecraft ever built. We are innovating on every level from design to launch,” said Chris Lewicki, president and chief engineer, Planetary Resources, Inc. “By vertically integrating the system at our facility in Redmond, we are in constant control of every component, including the ones we purchase off the shelf and the others that we manufacture using 3D printers.”

originally posted by: game over man
a reply to: MystikMushroom

There are a lot of complications with living in space, a mining operation is going to be nearly 100% robotic. ET's very well could be on the moon but eventually ET's are going to have to live with us, we are going to advance. Unless you think they are destroying our space craft then there is no chance of contact or progression into space. If that is the case we may have to battle it out one day to escape the planet.

I don't understand how a mining operation is going to make someone filthy rich...Are important minerals going to be cheap to bring back to home? There is a market for this? Who will buy mined asteroid minerals to add up for someone to become a trillionaire?

Materials mined in space do not have to be lifted up from the Earth's gravity well so one big buyer may be other spacefaring nations and corporations for use in space itself. As for precious metals, depending on which ones it could be a lot cheaper and far less of an environmental hassle to mine them in space robotically than pay for humans to mine them on Earth.

originally posted by: MystikMushroom

originally posted by: Zcustosmorum

originally posted by: MystikMushroom
a reply to: StratosFear

I get the feeling we got our hands "slapped" or something before we really got going with our space program.

Would you find it difficult to believe that there is possibly a secret space program which has a higher funding than what the public see?

Oh, I know there is.

The NRO gave NASA some "old" spy satellites that were basically huge space-based telescopes:

The United States' spy satellite agency is giving NASA two spare space telescopes free of charge, each potentially more powerful than the Hubble Space Telescope, NASA officials announced today (June 4).

The two spy satellite telescopes were originally built to fly space-based surveillance missions for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), but will be repurposed by NASA for astronomical research instead. Their donation to NASA was revealed in a surprise announcement.

Both NRO space telescopes have a main mirror nearly 8 feet wide (2.4 meters), rivaling the Hubble Space Telescope, and also carry a secondary mirror to enhance image sharpness, according to press reports. NASA's Hubble telescope is a space icon that has been beaming stunning photos to Earth for 22 years.

space.com

Gee, I wonder what they're using now?

Probably even better ones.

originally posted by: pauljs75
a reply to: game over man
It's by cutting out much of the need for heavy lift. Easier to build something big in space if you don't have to move it piece by piece from the surface. Bringing stuff in and transitioning from a solar orbit to an Earth orbit is easier.

Exactly.

originally posted by: trifecta
The inconvenient truth is a hard pill for most to swallow. Any person who believes the United States hasn't been running a robust space program to our Celestial neighbor, the Moon, and far beyond, needs their head checked.

When you factor in untold, unaccounted for TRILLIONS of dollars missing from the coffers every decade, the counter-intuitive and irrational staged kabbosh on hikes there (the Moon), the systematic obfuscation of clear and contemporary images of planetary bodies(that make recordings from the '70's look "cutting edge"), and the mere fact that most of our unified technology, here on Earth, is light years ahead of propulsion and energy, circumstantially.

I mean seriously, up until just recently you've been force-fed B&W images of the Moon, for nearly 60 years. It took other countries and clever, amateur astronomers with jury-rigged telescopes to reign in on the sheet they've been shoveling, while liberally spending YOUR hard earned tax dollars. NASA sits in their Ivory Tower, gasping for air, while they roll on the floor hysterically, mocking your every wide-eyed sigh, as they dribble on you from above.

That might have been a fun conspiracy to believe at one time but answer this: Why would China keep all of that secret when it would be simple enough for them to reveal? You do realize they've sent an orbiter and lander to the Moon (with more on the way) right?

Guess not.

Pssst guess what else?

India has a Mars orbiter taking images like this one:


Guess they're "in on it" too?

When a conspiracy theory involves the co-operation from multiple nation's space programs including some from nations which would love to expose a big US lie, it's probably not true and kinda silly to believe.

a reply to: JadeStar

Hehe...

Nice "toys"

Check out the aircraft forums sometime, we've talked about optics here and there...

a reply to: TrappedPrincess

I've brought up the idea of launching garbage at the sun with friends before and all I got back was "too expensive". Maybe it is and maybe it is time some of these billionaires start coughing up some funds in the general interest of humanity..

Lets see here.
Using the Falcon 9, the city of Chicago would have to 10 launches per hour 24/7.
How would that affect the ecology?

Childish thoughts without even checking the most basic numbers.

The same goes for mining in space.
Check the price of the final product down here.
Then guess how much it would cost to launch the equipment to produce the exact same product.

originally posted by: samkent
a reply to: TrappedPrincess

I've brought up the idea of launching garbage at the sun with friends before and all I got back was "too expensive". Maybe it is and maybe it is time some of these billionaires start coughing up some funds in the general interest of humanity..

Lets see here.
Using the Falcon 9, the city of Chicago would have to 10 launches per hour 24/7.
How would that affect the ecology?

Childish thoughts without even checking the most basic numbers.

The same goes for mining in space.
Check the price of the final product down here.
Then guess how much it would cost to launch the equipment to produce the exact same product.

Platinum...Gold....Silver...Diamonds...

The ecological impact of mining those on Earth is well known and the "low hanging fruit" have already been picked in most areas considered rich with those precious items.

Asteroids have not been picked of anything...yet.

a reply to: JadeStar

Platinum...Gold....Silver...Diamonds...

The ecological impact of mining those on Earth is well known and the "low hanging fruit" have already been picked in most areas considered rich with those precious items.

Remember cost of materials?
Remember supply and demand?

I did some calculations years ago.
Even if there were processed bars of gold stacked on the moon.
The cost of an Apollo style mission to retrieve them would cost dozens of millions of dollars more than the then price on Earth.
Then you have to factor in the commodity price on Earth when you increase supply by say 10%.
The price will tank.

None of these pie in the sky dreams will amount to anything until launch and land costs drop to near $5/lb.

originally posted by: netbound
For as long as I can remember, I’ve had this feeling that the 1st trillionaire would probably come about as a result of some astroid mining venture. Can’t remember, but I must have read that somewhere years ago, and it made sense to me then, so I’ve held to that belief ever since. I figured it would be accomplished through some commercial space capitalist venture, and not NASA. But, who knows? The next 10 years sounds possible (not surprising) to me, but then I’m just Joe Blow, so how would I know? At any rate, whether we like it or not, I think it’s inevitable. After all, money talks, and if there’s money to be made, then we will do it.

I wish we could avoid it, but I think mining the moon will also happen. I don’t think we need to rape the moon the way we have this planet in order to satisfy our energy requirements. There are other avenues to explore first. Bases for other things, great. Mining for energy, no. But, humans being humans, I doubt we’ll be able to resist the tempation to trash another world. It’s just part of our OCD DNA, it seems.

Then next, eventually, we can go to Mars and trash the hell out of it, too. Whoopee!!

I’ve always been a fan of the Space Program, and have always felt NASA was grossly underfunded. We’ve obviously chosen to sink trillions into fighting groundless, unjustified wars over exploring the universe that gave us life. But let’s face it, developing a viable space program will one day be our only means of escaping a planet we’ve rendered incapable of sustaining life. There are also a lot of technological spinoffs from the program that came about as a result of the research done by NASA and the educational institutions involved in the program. Things most folks take for granted. For anyone interested, here’s a list of just a few.

Since changing human nature isn’t likely, I guess we take the bad with the good. I really do wish we could adjust our priorities, though, and once again experience the magic the whole world felt during the Space Race to the moon (even though it was just a well-disguised political venture). We could do so many good things if we just had the will.

Nice thread, lostbook...

Here's a late and well overdue thank you"