Posted on 06/07/2016 6:58:07 AM PDT by BenLurkin
The project, known as RAMA (Reconstituting Asteroids into Mechanical Automata), is part of Made In Space's long-term plan to enable space colonization by helping make off-Earth manufacturing efficient and economically viable.
"Today, we have the ability to bring resources from Earth," Made In Space co-founder and chief technology officer Jason Dunn told Space.com. "But when we get to a tipping point where we need the resources in space, then the question becomes, 'Where do they come from and how do we get them, and how do we deliver them to the location that we need?' This is a way to do it."
Made In Space's idea involves sending an advanced, robotic "Seed Craft" out to rendezvous with a succession of near-Earth asteroids in space.
The Seed Craft would harvest material from the space rocks, then use this feedstock to construct propulsion, navigation, energy-storage and other key systems onsite with the aid of 3D printing and other technologies. (Made In Space has considerable 3D-printing expertise; the company built the two 3D printers that were installed aboard the International Space Station in the past year and a half.)
Thus transformed into autonomous spacecraft, the asteroids could be programmed to fly to a mining station in Earth-moon space, or anywhere else they were needed. This approach would be much more efficient than launching a new capture probe (or probes) to every single space rock targeted for resource exploitation, Made In Space representatives said.
(Excerpt) Read more at space.com ...
Interesting name. Any reference to an Arthur C Clarke novel?
Rendezvous with RAMA?
Molecular nano-printing would allow a small craft to land on an asteroid and then convert it into a machine from raw materials already within the asteroid. Perhaps even propelled by some type of nuclear energy harvested from the rock.
The key is to prevent the machines from going out of control and building themselves non-stop...
45 years in aerospace....
No way this is economical.
Excellent
“This Island Earth”.
Love that movie.
But NOBODY in the movie noticed the YUUUGE heads on those guys?
The problem I see with turning an asteroid in to a robotic space craft is either unintentionally or intentionally turning the asteroid in to a kinetic energy weapon.
An automated robotic asteroid space craft could be hacked by terrorist and targeted at a city. Millions of deaths from space.
“But NOBODY in the movie noticed the YUUUGE heads on those guys?”
The Professor certainly should have, but he paid.
Have you read the book?
Worth the read, even fully explains the title within the context of American history.
This will generate a lot of money and create a lot of jobs.
To hell with mining it... live in it to escape the socialist utopia of the future retarded earth...
Love this kinda stuff ... and it will happen one day. For anyone interested in the SciFi version, and it is very well done BTW, check out The Expanse. One of the best TV shows in a long time and, believe it or not it’s on the SyFy Channel. All about the feud between Earth and Mars and the miners in the Asteroid Belt. Really great stuff. You may watch it online, free of charge, if you wanna get a feel for the show. It’s fantastic TV. http://www.syfy.com/theexpanse
I have not.
I’ll look for it out there.
thx.
3. Profit!
Possibly, but they should have called it Troy after the two trillion ton nickel-iron battlestation created from an Asteroid in John Ringo's Troy Rising series of books.
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