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Space is big. I mean, really big. The orbits that are most useful for our current-day satellites are crowded, of course, but you could stash your asteroid boot
by mzw_mzw 10y ago
Space is big. I mean, really big.
The orbits that are most useful for our current-day satellites are crowded, of course, but you could stash your asteroid booty anywhere you like. Putting it in orbit around the Moon might not be a bad move.
- kchoudhu 10y agoWhy bother bringing it home at all? Set up orbital factories as well, and ship the finished goods back to Earth via space elevator. Get rid of mining and dirty manufacturing on earth once and for all.
- mooreds 10y agoThis book captivated me as a child and explains many interesting possibilities about manufacturing in space: https://www.amazon.com/third-industrial-revolution-Harry-Stine/dp/0441806643/ref=sr_1_1 https://www.amazon.com/third-industrial-revolution-Harry-Sti... All kinds of interesting processes become feasible in weightlessness. For instance, some kinds of alloys just aren't possible on earth because the metals' densities are so different that they don't mix properly. No so in space.
- jon_richards 10y agoAren't atmospheric elements required for most refining processes?
- pavel_lishin 10y agoCan't you ship it home with a heat shield and a parachute?
- kchoudhu 10y agoSure. But adding ballistic re-entry to your manufacturing process seems a little scary.
- geon 10y agoEarth orbit isn't that crowded. And you don't need to spread out. A cube of 100x100x100 m would store plenty of metal, but would not need more safety margin distance than any other satellite.
- mzw_mzw 10y agoIt is pretty crowded, actually. We've had satellites literally colliding with each other before. Filling it up with chunks of asteroid isn't the best use of limited room, especially when space farther away is genuinely empty and since you're coming from outside the Earth/Moon system you can put the goods anywhere you want.