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Mining on Asteroids! Possible and perhaps coming soon!

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posted on Apr, 24 2012 @ 06:50 AM
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Just happenned to find this article on CBC and thought it was interesting and worth sharing!


It's believed the company's business model will be based on capturing asteroids that travel near Earth and extracting useful minerals out of them


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Obviously this is not done as of yet but that possibility is amazing.

This could be quite the breakthrough for our future as we are depleting our planet of its resources, getting them from asteroids would give the Earth Mother a break.

I think that due to high costs, the prices for these materials will rise considerably.

Any thoughts

Teye22



posted on Apr, 24 2012 @ 06:56 AM
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My only thought is the first company that successfully mines asteroids will easily end up the richest and most powerful the world has ever seen. Only question is are we at that stage I doubt it to be honest maybe in a hundred years if we are still here.

Potential is huge but the problems probably outweigh it.
edit on 24-4-2012 by Teknikal because: (no reason given)



posted on Apr, 24 2012 @ 07:17 AM
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reply to post by Teknikal
 


You are absolutely right, the article says maybe in 2025 but I seriously doubt this will happen in our lifetime. but at the rate technology is advancing, we never know, maybe we will be lucky enough to see them launch at least.

They should call Bruce Willis, he's the best of the best I hear!!!



posted on Apr, 24 2012 @ 01:18 PM
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the asteroid mining (Planetary Resources) webcast is on right now. You can follow it right here :

www.spacevidcast.com...

Asteroid mining .... sounds like fun


They are contemplating visiting NEA's .... in the future. So far their webcast lacks details. They are contemplating sending probes to asteroids in the next decade, and identifying the ones suitable for further examination for their next probes.

But, hey, this might be the next golden age for humanity. (keeping my fingers crossed, but I guess I'll be too old to take part in it...)


if you are interested in mining the asteroids, you can visit this site.


There are near-limitless numbers of asteroids and more being discovered every year. More than 1,500 are as easy to reach as the Moon and are in similar orbits as Earth. Asteroids are filled with precious resources, everything from water to platinum. Harnessing valuable minerals from a practically infinite source will provide stability on Earth, increase humanity’s prosperity, and help establish and maintain human presence in space.


www.planetaryresources.com...
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posted on Apr, 24 2012 @ 02:00 PM
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I will be the first to invest thousands into the companies stocks to hopefully become rich in 15 years.



posted on Apr, 24 2012 @ 02:11 PM
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reply to post by Teknikal
 


One sure fire way to get us off our collective backsides en mass is to make the activity profitable. I understand your concerns, but private industry is now leaping ahead of governments in making the greatest technological investments and advances in aerospace access today then have occurred in the last fifty years.

Since one can't forever classify the engineering that applies the physics that before hand had often been the monopoly of certain black programs, personally I'm delighted that "new" capabilities are seeing the public light of day thanks to private industry and all addictive dollar.

The democratization of affordable access to space will offer the greatest opportunities for the greatest number of people. And a lot of people have a high probability of making a great deal of money in the process. I hope I'm one of them. And I'll do my best to make sure as many people can go to this party as want to.

Only when we no longer cover every space launch any more then we make a grand production of every trans-pacific commercial flight, will I believe the space age has arrived for everyone.



posted on Apr, 24 2012 @ 02:28 PM
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I think they are still in the dreaming phase. Launch costs are still far too high.

The Russians are charging us $50 mil to launch a 200lb man into orbit. Granted we are paying a preimum price. But that price is low if you add a probe/robot to do the mining.

So the raw numbers I come up with is.
16 tons of processed and finished gold would return just over the $50 mil. That's a finished product not ore! That's approaching the shuttles cargo weight.

Even if they did manage to retrieve 16 tons of gold it would crash the market on Earth.



posted on Apr, 24 2012 @ 02:35 PM
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Being involved in the resource stocks, I find this kind of funny,

Mining for lets say gold, silver, platinum, iron ore, palladium, or any other metal for that fact is a high risk by no means. To say that trying to put a piece of land into production will cost about 150 million to 500 million that all depends on all sots of things.

The only advantage to mining another planetary body is there is no regulations or environmental impact at to do it there. There are no other players or governments that wants a piece of the pie so to speak right now.
No environmentalism or non of that, not in my back yard to say, all of this becomes non existent.

The only other thing to consider is the cost, all mining comes down to cost per metric ton. Now most mines have a cost of $26 to $1400 per metric ton, now that only depends on world markets and what you get per ton.

The only other problem I see is if you have a tun of something up there in space how do you get it down here with out it burning up in the atmosphere if you can't then you mined it for nothing.

There is a bigger picture here that we are not seeing or being told as to why you would want to mine a planet.

There is nothing stated anywhere that we are running out of mineral in the ground to mine, there is more to this that meets the eye.



posted on Apr, 24 2012 @ 03:11 PM
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I'd say 2025 is a believable date, look where we were 14 years ago, 1990's, and look where we are now, iPad's, a space station, cell phones, credit cards... although people refuse to see it, by 2025, we'll be far more advanced than that...



posted on Apr, 24 2012 @ 03:58 PM
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reply to post by Davian
 


true, but unfortunately our space exploration hasn't followed that path....... When did the last man land on the moon? By now humans should have had a permanent base on Mars, let alone the moon!!!



posted on Apr, 24 2012 @ 04:12 PM
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This caught my eye, and please bear in mind I am no expert on this kind of thing (on anything really if I am honest), but I would throw a few concerns out there:
1. If you alter the mass of an object in a set orbit, might it affect the orbit given that gravity is a force, and force affects mass? My point is, make an asteroid lighter and you may affect its trajectory. Is Phage a top man in this kind of thing? I know asteroids bump into eachother already altering orbits, but doesn't this increase the risk of an earth collision?
2. Monetary issues have been raised. No matter how expensive or financially viable it is to extract from the earth, surely it is still cheaper than going extra terrestrial?
3. If we are ultra critical of ourselves, do we not have enough resources on the planet to achieve all the things we want to? If we are looking at this as an option, would it not be more sensible, ethical, and responsible to reassess what we already have, and what we really need? Cue Jacques Fresco. For example, if we wanted gold, should we not just reassess what we are using gold for now? Would it just be for "bling" value?

Anyhow, I was just wondering, good to see how this pans out.



posted on Apr, 24 2012 @ 05:05 PM
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I love this article. I have been saying for years that we should move out into space, colonize and begin utilizing resources of our solar system, including mining asteroids and people on ATS and all over the net constantly laughed at me and said it was a ridiculous idea. Now that some companies are actually talking about doing it I bet a lot of those yahoos will probably think it's feasible now. Kind of sad, many people don't believe something can be done until others do it; short sighted people with tiny dreams and means.

Anyway, one of the other posters did bring up a good point that actually does worry me about companies doing this and that is crashing the metals markets. The reason it bothers me is because those companies will have a vested interest; like the diamond industry, in limiting supply and therefore would have an interest in continuing to keep the masses out of space. I just wish my fellow humans would just get fired up enough already to demand space and quit letting the gatekeepers; governments and corporations, keep humanity from it's birthright and destiny; living in and utilizing the whole solar system.

Good thread and flag for you OP.



posted on Apr, 24 2012 @ 05:13 PM
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Three words: GERMS, GERMS, GERMS. This is probably a really bad idea. We will probably become extinct from contamination. Super Germs from being in space knock us dead. Don't believe me? Go and lick the door knob on you local elementary school's indoor main office door..... It was nice to know you.



posted on Apr, 24 2012 @ 05:20 PM
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Originally posted by frugal
Three words: GERMS, GERMS, GERMS. This is probably a really bad idea. We will probably become extinct from contamination. Super Germs from being in space knock us dead. Don't believe me? Go and lick the door knob on you local elementary school's indoor main office door..... It was nice to know you.


Two words, baseless fear. Meteors hit the planet quite frequently. Many scientists speculate that life may have orginally have been seeded to the earth on the back of meteors and we are not dead yet from super space germs.

I know the idea makes for a good segment on creepshow and scifi stories, but hasn't really been a reality yet. lol

edit on 24-4-2012 by prisoneronashipoffools because: typo



posted on Apr, 24 2012 @ 05:23 PM
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It seems the political and legal situation is far from cut and dry, whichever side of the fence you sit:

www.space.com...



posted on Apr, 24 2012 @ 06:44 PM
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reply to post by jsettica
 


As for going after metals, as the company reported today on BBC World TV, they are looking at materials like that much more long term. And they are going after what is far more valuable, water and volatiles first. Those are the really valuable materials from the point of view of space industrialization, certainly in the early stages. Its to early to see how any of this will affect world prices. The effect is likely to be much less if the economics of transport make it more sensible to target use of the mined materials for construction etc, off-world.

As for it being cheaper only because of the environmental regulations, as in being non-existent that is likely to change but still has the potential to remain very competitive. The key is taking advantage of the micro-gravity, and solar energy resources. As for environmental concerns it helps not having an atmosphere to foul up. The two main concerns as I see them are radiation, likely to be employed via nuclear in some capacity until large scale solar cells can be constructed.

The other is scattering of removed materials, running into anything at several miles per second is an obvious problem. But I do think these are solvable. And unlike the history of environmental damage on Earth, we have the awareness from day one these issues must be adequately addressed. The critical interest we all have is to make sure these issues are front and center and very visible.



posted on Apr, 24 2012 @ 07:23 PM
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Why do all the minerals have to come back to Earth...if the company was efficient some very valuable minerals could come back onboard a returning capsule, the secret mini shuttle.
But I would like to see the bulk of materials harvested to remain in space, to build more stuff. A moon base, a larger safer space station. Could it be easier and cheaper to launch a couple mining vessels and relocate/refine materials in space for whatever purposes are needed.



posted on Apr, 24 2012 @ 07:28 PM
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sounds good

but what about starting off with mining the Moon

and mining/terrascaping Mars?

why wast $ on asteroids first when they dont even stick around the sun/warmth??



posted on Apr, 24 2012 @ 07:52 PM
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Originally posted by Xcouncil=wisdom
Why do all the minerals have to come back to Earth...if the company was efficient some very valuable minerals could come back onboard a returning capsule, the secret mini shuttle.
But I would like to see the bulk of materials harvested to remain in space, to build more stuff. A moon base, a larger safer space station. Could it be easier and cheaper to launch a couple mining vessels and relocate/refine materials in space for whatever purposes are needed.


Perhaps this would help this project!


Link

You never know right!!!



posted on Apr, 24 2012 @ 08:03 PM
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Originally posted by prisoneronashipoffools
I just wish my fellow humans would just get fired up enough already to demand space and quit letting the gatekeepers; governments and corporations, keep humanity from it's birthright and destiny; living in and utilizing the whole solar system.

Good thread and flag for you OP.



Thanks and I have to say that I am in total agreement with you on this, we could have acheived this years ago (I think anyway.... :puz
When/if this is all operational, The world will a much different place. In a positive way I hope.



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