Mining asteroids? I get it!

An organization called Planetary Resources had their big press conference yesterday announcing their plans to mine asteroids for raw materials that will facilitate private space travel.  I mentioned this here and here.

I’ve barely started reading their website, but that’s enough for me to ‘get it’.  With other work commitments I will have to get back to this later, but wanted to highlight it now.

An article in The New York Times provides more background – In Pursuit of Riches, and Travelers’ Supplies, in the Asteroid Belt

Here’s the concept in one paragraph from Planetary Resources’ web site – mind-boggling amounts of natural resources have yet to be discovered:

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Mining asteroids?

Here’s a brain stretcher for you.

People with money to back their ideas are thinking about mining asteroids for natural resources.

After you finish chuckling, consider the materials needed for extended space travel and the cost of lifting them from earth into space.  How about pulling those resources off an asteroid, since its already in space?

Like I said, it’s a stretch.

And yet…

An outfit called Planetary Resources is planning to research the idea and figure out how to pull it off.

Continue reading “Mining asteroids?”