Mining Asteroids
Discussion
Looks like a company has been set up to set the ball rolling in this area -
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-i...
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-i...
cal216610 said:
What would be the time scale of being able to mine on an asteroid before it went to far out off into space?
They must have to work fast and even allow for any problems.
Facinating to read though.
Also could mining on a floating rock cause it to divert from it's current path due to vibrations from drills etc..
I think the plan is deliberately move the asteroid out of its current orbit using low thrust boosters - such as ion drive or solar pressure - and to end up with the rock in a more stable and accessable orbit BEFORE drilling etc begins.They must have to work fast and even allow for any problems.
Facinating to read though.
Also could mining on a floating rock cause it to divert from it's current path due to vibrations from drills etc..
Edited by cal216610 on Tuesday 24th April 09:14
qube_TA said:
Daft question, how would they know which asteroids to mine? There's one or two out there, they can't all be winners.
There are huindreds of thousands out there, and at least 10,000 that are classified as "near earth". Analysis of the chemical composition of their surfaces can be done remotely - either from earth or from space based devices such as earthe orbiting satellites or asteroid probes. Some of this has already been done.
russman777 said:
Don't even think its viable in are age maybe 10 years down the line maybe,even if some of the companys that think of doing it may not even touch even I still think its worth it to get some rare or new materials to help expand technology,think what gold and other rare minerals will be worth in 10 years time,would give a new twist on working away from home lol
Now is as good a time to start as ever.The whole point of this type of "mining" is that the raw materials are being extracted for use IN SPACE. These materials are far more effective if they are processed and manufactured in space for use in space.
PW said:
SystemParanoia said:
but the company that starts now, will be 10 years closer to profit than someone who waits 10 years
How do you make a profit though?I don't doubt that it is technically possible to do, but is it practical to do? I'm really curious as to how the economics could work.
As far as I can work out it'll cost many billions to get to the point where you can start looking at asteroids for resources, let alone even think about extracting them.
And there's no guarantee that any suitable asteroids are close by - it might take decades to find one worth mining. It could take centuries before it became "profitable".
Of course, that's presuming the lawyers have finished debating whether it is even legal for people to claim ownership of, and therefore profits from objects in space.
If you're going to go for something outlandish... space based power generation seems a more sensible idea to pursue. It's a big technical hurdle, but if it is possible, it is possible no matter what, unlike the mining idea where it might be entirely possible, but for a lack of asteroids to mine...
Or are you setting yourself up as a space investment consultant?
I'm sure the technologies that flow from this will be beneficial to everybody. If we are hanging around waiting for governments to do it we will be waiting a long time - unless you're Chinese.
PW said:
SystemParanoia said:
but the company that starts now, will be 10 years closer to profit than someone who waits 10 years
How do you make a profit though?I don't doubt that it is technically possible to do, but is it practical to do? I'm really curious as to how the economics could work.
As far as I can work out it'll cost many billions to get to the point where you can start looking at asteroids for resources, let alone even think about extracting them.
And there's no guarantee that any suitable asteroids are close by - it might take decades to find one worth mining. It could take centuries before it became "profitable".
Of course, that's presuming the lawyers have finished debating whether it is even legal for people to claim ownership of, and therefore profits from objects in space.
If you're going to go for something outlandish... space based power generation seems a more sensible idea to pursue. It's a big technical hurdle, but if it is possible, it is possible no matter what, unlike the mining idea where it might be entirely possible, but for a lack of asteroids to mine...
Or are you setting yourself up as a space investment consultant?
I'm sure the technologies that flow from this will be beneficial to everybody. If we are hanging around waiting for governments to do it we will be waiting a long time - unless you're Chinese.
PW said:
Point out, please, where I said they shouldn't 
I was actually asking a question - god forbid anyone mark themselves as being cave dwelling Luddites by doing such a thing - as to how it is supposed to work in terms of ever being "profitable" in any conventional sense.
I'm guessing there isn't all that much data on what resources asteroids represent, and the data set can't be built until we start looking, so why not start looking - that makes sense, and there are lots of steps along the way to that end that will have solutions that can be used for many other ventures, which is where I guess most of the return will come from.
The actual economics of mining asteroids, however... They could find 100 viable candidates on the first day, it might take 10 years until they find one, which might be on the other side of the solar system. Without knowing the timescale involved, how much wonderflonium you could typically extract from any given source, or how much it would cost to process it once they've created the technology, it is difficult to see how it could be considered in traditional business terms of "profitability". Hence the opening question in my first post.
There are any number of other space-based exploratory activities they could have chosen that would require many of the steps they plan on taking to be achieved, and similar amounts of investment, that have seemingly much more attainable ultimate goals, without the large number of variables and unknowns that astro-mining seems to include.
If someone has some insight or information that would be useful, great. Otherwise...
Don't over react. I was actually asking a question - god forbid anyone mark themselves as being cave dwelling Luddites by doing such a thing - as to how it is supposed to work in terms of ever being "profitable" in any conventional sense.
I'm guessing there isn't all that much data on what resources asteroids represent, and the data set can't be built until we start looking, so why not start looking - that makes sense, and there are lots of steps along the way to that end that will have solutions that can be used for many other ventures, which is where I guess most of the return will come from.
The actual economics of mining asteroids, however... They could find 100 viable candidates on the first day, it might take 10 years until they find one, which might be on the other side of the solar system. Without knowing the timescale involved, how much wonderflonium you could typically extract from any given source, or how much it would cost to process it once they've created the technology, it is difficult to see how it could be considered in traditional business terms of "profitability". Hence the opening question in my first post.
There are any number of other space-based exploratory activities they could have chosen that would require many of the steps they plan on taking to be achieved, and similar amounts of investment, that have seemingly much more attainable ultimate goals, without the large number of variables and unknowns that astro-mining seems to include.
If someone has some insight or information that would be useful, great. Otherwise...
Why should you criticise whet they want to do with their own money. It's their plan and they obviously aren't intersted in other schemes - at the moment
And if you are concerned about them "wasting" their own money, why not speak to them directly -
http://www.planetaryresources.com/
PW said:
Eric Mc said:
I'm extremely joyful and hopeful about this project - and I'm an accountant.
Bully for you. Shame you're doing your darnedest to spoil it for others by interpreting questions as criticisms, putting words in people's mouths, and focusing your efforts on making unhelpful and unwelcome remarks instead of informative contributions, as others have done.What more could I do?
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