[2ndDivisionVet]

John never heard of recycling?

[Paladin2]

Was the mass destroyed?

[ROCKLOBSTER]

Isn’t the Earth’s core molten iron? Aren’t deep sea volcanoes depositing near industrial grade metals on the ocean floor?

Wouldn’t remote control deep sea mining gear be easier, safer and cheaper?

[VeniVidiVici]

You know, if George Bush had suggested this we'd still be hearing snarky comments about it.

But let such a stupid idea slip from Obama’s lips and his sycophants in the media are all agog.

[RetiredTexasVet]

Oh no, the sky is falling, the sky is falling .... give me billions and I will keep it from falling .... I promise .... trust me based upon my past performance....

[Cvengr]

From http://impact.ese.ic.ac.uk/cgi-bin/crater.cgi?dist=30&distanceUnits=2&diam=1&diameterUnits=4&pdens=&pdens_select=8000&vel=30&velocityUnits=2&theta=90&tdens=1000&wdepth=100&wdepthUnits=2

Using the $20 trillion 1 mile diameter asteroid as an example, and we have a 4.87x10^6 Megaton TnT blast.

Your Inputs:
Distance from Impact: 48.30 km ( = 30.00 miles )
Projectile diameter: 1.61 km ( = 1.00 miles )
Projectile Density: 8000 kg/m3
Impact Velocity: 48.30 km per second ( = 30.00 miles per second )
Impact Angle: 90 degrees
Target Density: 1000 kg/m3
Target Type: Liquid water of depth 30.5 meters ( = 100.0 feet ), over crystalline rock.

Energy:
Energy before atmospheric entry: 2.04 x 1022 Joules = 4.87 x 106 MegaTons TNT
The average interval between impacts of this size somewhere on Earth during the last 4 billion years is 1.6 x 107years

Major Global Changes:
The Earth is not strongly disturbed by the impact and loses negligible mass.
The impact does not make a noticeable change in the tilt of Earth’s axis (< 5 hundreths of a degree).
The impact does not shift the Earth’s orbit noticeably.

Crater Dimensions:
What does this mean?

The crater opened in the water has a diameter of 60.2 km ( = 37.4 miles ).

For the crater formed in the seafloor:
Transient Crater Diameter: 36.8 km ( = 22.8 miles )
Transient Crater Depth: 13 km ( = 8.07 miles )

Final Crater Diameter: 59.1 km ( = 36.7 miles )
Final Crater Depth: 1.01 km ( = 0.627 miles )
The crater formed is a complex crater.
The volume of the target melted or vaporized is 180 km3 = 43.1 miles3
Roughly half the melt remains in the crater, where its average thickness is 169 meters ( = 555 feet ).

Thermal Radiation:
What does this mean?

Time for maximum radiation: 1.13 seconds after impact

Your position is inside the fireball.
The fireball appears 256 times larger than the sun
Thermal Exposure: 4.14 x 109 Joules/m2
Duration of Irradiation: 11.8 minutes
Radiant flux (relative to the sun): 5840

Effects of Thermal Radiation:

Clothing ignites

Much of the body suffers third degree burns

Newspaper ignites

Plywood flames

Deciduous trees ignite

Grass ignites

Seismic Effects:
What does this mean?

The major seismic shaking will arrive approximately 9.66 seconds after impact.
Richter Scale Magnitude: 9.1
Mercalli Scale Intensity at a distance of 48.3 km:

X. Most masonry and frame structures destroyed with their foundations. Some well-built wooden structures and bridges destroyed. Serious damage to dams, dikes, embankments. Large landslides. Water thrown on banks of canals, rivers, lakes, etc. Sand and mud shifted horizontally on beaches and flat land. Rails bent slightly.

XI. As X. Rails bent greatly. Underground pipelines completely out of service.

XII. As X. Damage nearly total. Large rock masses displaced. Lines of sight and level distorted. Objects thrown into the air.

[sickoflibs]

This doesnt sound practical.

Its like saying that the Sun has all the free energy we need but we just have to go and get it and bring it back.

[DakotaGator]

And we're collecting, processing, and eventually throwing out those resources at an alarming rate: A United Nations report on resource depletion says that between 1980 and 2008 natural resources per capita declined by 20 percent in the United States, 33 percent in South Africa, 25 percent in Brazil, and 17 percent in China.

Absolute BS! It's all still here on good old planet earth. Where do these idiots think they are "throwing out" the material to?!

Not only is this Malthusian nonsense, but it is multiplied by the idiocy that it would cost less to mine an asteroid. There may come a time when mining asteroids is profitable. But it will first be for materials used in off-earth endeavors. That will cost much less than trying to boost materials from earth.

And the only way mining asteroids will be profitable is if government stays out of it!

[Mike Darancette]

Will they be able to grow food out there?

[Cyber Liberty]

Don’t be silly. We have too many mouths to feed right here.

[MaxMax]

OMG, they’re going to weight Gaya down and drown her. lmbo

[moovova]

Since it will cost $30 trillion to mine $20 trillion in metals... sounds like something Obama would be interested in...

[norwaypinesavage]

"scientists speculated that a relatively small metallic asteroid with a diameter of 0.99 miles contains more than $20 trillion worth of industrial and precious metals"

Similarly, a "relatively small gold mine on earth contains more than $20 billion worth of gold". It's quite easy to find the gold - if you look for it only in the mine. The only trick is finding where to place the mine.

Even if you could solve all of the "asteroid mining" problems, you still have to fine a SUITABLE "small metallic asteroid", and then get it here. My recommendation of to invest in the lottery instead. The odds of success are much-much better.