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Low or zero gravity can also be a hindrance; how do you mine an asteroid if every wack of the pickaxe also propels you away from said asteroid? Clearly asteroid
by le-mark 9y ago
Low or zero gravity can also be a hindrance; how do you mine an asteroid if every wack of the pickaxe also propels you away from said asteroid? Clearly asteroids won't be mined with pickaxes, this is an illustration that gravity is in fact critical for all known terrestrial manufacturing processes!
When considered in this light, shallow gravity wells like the moon or mars, which are cheaper to access from a delta-v perspective are actually super important.
Also, O'neil type cylinder habitats (which I think Bezos favors) are a suitable alternative.
- TeMPOraL 9y agoYup. Zero-g introduces absurd amounts of challenges, only showing just how much everything we've learned over past couple thousand years is dependent on living at the bottom of a gravity well. For those curious about asteroid mining per se, there are plenty of ideas being prototyped right now - including the more obvious ones like two-part drills spinning in opposite direction, and the less obvious ones like using concentrated sunlight to heat up the asteroid and collecting the matter that outgasses from the hot spot.
- le-mark 9y agoMy pet theory: Giant kevlar bag, surround asteroid, embed explosives, pulverize, cinch bag tight: bag-o-gravel :D
- TeMPOraL 9y agoChange "embedded explosives" to the concentrated solar light I mentioned, and you've essentially described a mission proposal that I've seen in a NASA report. https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/eso_final_report.pdf https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/eso_fin... Scroll to page 11 for a picture.