Old Man Posted April 23, 2012 Report Share Posted April 23, 2012 So several supervillains billionaires have joined forces to fund an asteroid mining venture. Discuss! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkdguy Posted April 23, 2012 Report Share Posted April 23, 2012 Re: Planetary Resources Sounds intriguing. The company website doesn't state much except that the big announcment is on April 24, which is Tuesday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted April 23, 2012 Report Share Posted April 23, 2012 Re: Planetary Resources ... I wanna have money to invest in asteroid mining too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkdguy Posted April 23, 2012 Report Share Posted April 23, 2012 Re: Planetary Resources I just want money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted April 23, 2012 Report Share Posted April 23, 2012 Re: Planetary Resources Materialist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted April 23, 2012 Report Share Posted April 23, 2012 Re: Planetary Resources Here's the same story at SPACE.com They have a snazzy logo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zeropoint Posted April 23, 2012 Report Share Posted April 23, 2012 Re: Planetary Resources I've been daydreaming about trying to get investors to fund a startup asteroid mining company for a while . . . looks like someone beat me to the punch. Well, they're people who ALREADY have money, so they're better positioned than I am. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveZilla Posted April 23, 2012 Report Share Posted April 23, 2012 Re: Planetary Resources Wasn't there some boardgame a ways back about mining asteroids? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrAgdesh Posted April 23, 2012 Report Share Posted April 23, 2012 Re: Planetary Resources Belter, or more recently High Frontier? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lawnmower Boy Posted April 23, 2012 Report Share Posted April 23, 2012 Re: Planetary Resources I've been struggling to find something to say about this that doesn't start and end with a word that rhymes with "rifters." Fortunately, Noahopinion has said it for me, with, like, graphs and data and stuff. (Apologies to the Chicago Tribune for that.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmadanNaBriona Posted April 23, 2012 Report Share Posted April 23, 2012 Re: Planetary Resources Belter' date=' or more recently High Frontier?[/quote'] or if you're going really old school, Asteroid Zero-Four Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher Posted April 23, 2012 Report Share Posted April 23, 2012 Re: Planetary Resources or if you're going really old school' date=' Asteroid Zero-Four Nuclear Warfare in Space. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkdguy Posted April 24, 2012 Report Share Posted April 24, 2012 Re: Planetary Resources Another take on the story here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmadanNaBriona Posted April 24, 2012 Report Share Posted April 24, 2012 Re: Planetary Resources In all seriousness, this is awesomesauce. I've been waiting for this with indrawn breath for so long I'm blue in the face, and I'm extra double happy that the folk behind it are generally more or less the good guys. In the face of this news, has there been any comment from the "We should return to the gold standard" crowd? Because their clock is ticking Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lawnmower Boy Posted April 24, 2012 Report Share Posted April 24, 2012 Re: Planetary Resources In all seriousness, this is awesomesauce. I've been waiting for this with indrawn breath for so long I'm blue in the face, and I'm extra double happy that the folk behind it are generally more or less the good guys. In the face of this news, has there been any comment from the "We should return to the gold standard" crowd? Because their clock is ticking Well, Der Krugman says that we need more inflation, and the gold bugs are fine with inflation if it results from digging more gold out of the ground, so I'd say that we're probably fine on that side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Posted April 25, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 25, 2012 Re: Planetary Resources So the announcement was announced today. Details: http://arstechnica.com/science/news/2012/04/good-morning-everyone-im-chris-lewicki-and-im-an-asteroid-miner---planetary-resources-announces-aste.ars Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lawnmower Boy Posted April 25, 2012 Report Share Posted April 25, 2012 Re: Planetary Resources It's less crazy than I expected, but I'm still not investing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted April 25, 2012 Report Share Posted April 25, 2012 Re: Planetary Resources With any luck, soon the DOT will have to issue a hazmat ID code for antimatter. Or not, but we can dream. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher Posted April 25, 2012 Report Share Posted April 25, 2012 Re: Planetary Resources With any luck, soon the DOT will have to issue a hazmat ID code for antimatter. Or not, but we can dream. Antimater is a giant step from what we are discussing here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Posted April 25, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 25, 2012 Re: Planetary Resources It's less crazy than I expected' date=' but I'm still not investing.[/quote'] I don't think you need to, given the billions already involved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest dr. strangelove Posted May 2, 2012 Report Share Posted May 2, 2012 Re: Planetary Resources Hmm, I still wonder, having started a thread about it before seeing this one, if the moon is a better target for mining. it's surface it littered with asteroidal material, it has maybe enough gravity to help people stay healthy unlike long exposure to zero gravity, and impacting the lunar surface will have done a nice job of breaking up asteroids into small, easily processed parts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher Posted May 2, 2012 Report Share Posted May 2, 2012 Re: Planetary Resources Hmm' date=' I still wonder, having started a thread about it before seeing this one, if the moon is a better target for mining. it's surface it littered with asteroidal material, it has maybe enough gravity to help people stay healthy unlike long exposure to zero gravity, and impacting the lunar surface will have done a nice job of breaking up asteroids into small, easily processed parts.[/quote'] The earth is litered with Asteroid material as well. Going to the source is faster/more efficient. NE-Asteroids are also considerably closer to earth than the moon (up too 300.000 km). As I understand it they pick one asteroid that is going to get close anyway, built up thier base and when it finally comes in easy extraction range start sending up people/start the digging. The farther away you go from earth, the stronger the Radiation (and the heavier the radiation shielding = higher weight). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markdoc Posted May 3, 2012 Report Share Posted May 3, 2012 Re: Planetary Resources Hmm' date=' I still wonder, having started a thread about it before seeing this one, if the moon is a better target for mining. it's surface it littered with asteroidal material, it has maybe enough gravity to help people stay healthy unlike long exposure to zero gravity, and impacting the lunar surface will have done a nice job of breaking up asteroids into small, easily processed parts.[/quote'] Yeah, but these guys are not crazed Final Frontierists: they're planning on sending mining robots, not people. The idea (I was listening to them talking on the radio recently) is instead of sending large, expensive, complex vehicles to ship people, they will send little, cheap, fragile vehicles that don't need to be airtight, heavily rad-shielded or have the structural integrity to operate deep in a gravity well. If they lose a few (or even more than a few) ... they can live with that. Manned flight is on the agenda, but far, far off into that future. cheers, Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.