Posted on 02/13/2013 6:48:29 PM PST by Dallas59
(Excerpt) Read more at asterank.com ...
In the current environment this will never happen. China will likely beat us to it, and then destroy us with it.
Obama need a trillion just to study it.
Add the UN and every liberal nut west of the Songhua river too
Mining value is based on how much is left in your pocket AFTER you have processed and delivered the goods.
This is liberal mining value, where they get the money, you get to dig.
It’s nice to know when we run out of this stuff on Earth, 500 years from now, there is an alternative source.
Second, even those estimates are probably high because they count current prices. But what happens when the first asteroid you mine doubles the amount of gold in circulation? Price plummets.
Third, I wouldn't be surprised if the UN tries to steal the revenue from the mining company siting some treaty or "joint ownership of all mankind" which would make the Law of the Sea Treaty look friendly.
The value isn't on earth. It's real value is in it's location.
It costs $3000 or so to send a pound of water (or anything) to space. If it's already up there, and not in earth's gravity well, it's a whole lot cheaper.
Gold and platinum and all that crap is just gravy.
Consumables are where the value lies.
I wish the articles on the value of asteroids would point that out.
/johnny
I’m not sure I get your point. Everything we need is here. Why do we want to be in a different location.
I understand the principle of diversification but we aren’t getting to another star system and being in the asteroid belt isn’t going to really help us if things to seriously wrong in the Sol system.
We don't have to go to other star systems to maintain life off of the planet. We do it now, in a small way, and mine a bif planet (Earth) with a deep gravity well to provide humanity's needs off the planet.
Cheaper to mine those resources from a shallow gravity well asteroid.
We're at early days yet. When the eastern US was still young and pretty open, people still migrated west, even though they had everything they needed where they were.
/johnny
I missed one very important point.
We are losing one resource that can be found on frontiers, even if those frontiers are difficult.
Freedom.
/johnny
Every where we go, there we are.
The history of the world is a narrowing freedom. The unanswered question is how did this bolus of freedom find a home in N. America from 1776 to (I don’t know) 1930?
“More than enough money”
You have to factor in the collapse of heavy metals markets. When platinum goes down to 40 an ounce and car parts are made from iridium, they won’t be worth a hundred trillion.
I think we should pursue asteroid mining, don’t get me wrong- it’s the only path to the stars or viable extraterran colonies.
Plus I think coffee would taste great from a platinum pot, and what would rhenium steel guitar strings sound like?
I have struggled with that question. A few things I came up with are:
We were founded by a group of people that left their home country seeking freedom (to worship how they liked). I don't know of any other mass migration in history searching for freedom, except perhaps, Jews re-establishing Israel.
Our isolation, and the frontiers were wide open until around 1900 or so. Freedom could be found over the hill, and government couldn't effectively control us because of logistics.
I continue to study the issue.
/johnny
Neat topic.
I think it needs more formal study.
Many of those that have established private companies to mine asteroids are partially motivated by a search for freedom.
/johnny
Thanks Dallas59. An ‘extra, extra’ to APoD members.
LOL...I remember plopping a lot of quarters into that machine! That was a great game. The interactive physics really fascinated me.
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