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Space is starting to look like the better mining operation
- JoeAltmaier 3y agoGood to see folks talking about this. More metal in some asteroids than what we've mined on earth so far - civilizations' worth of metal. Hurdles are large - mining where there's no wind or even air to carry away particulates. No gravity to hold machinery in place. It'll be a challenge even to get a drill into an asteroid without just - bouncing off. The biggest is probably logistics. Mine in place, or haul the asteroid to earth or lunar orbit, mine it there? Extract some ore in place, then bring that enriched ore (less thrust required as you're leaving the dross behind), refine in orbit? Or hell just drop small asteroids into a body of water, fish them out and refine on Earth! Or on Mars, or the moon... The possibilities are enormous. The critical measure is, does it pay? That's always been the rule for mining - is that ore worth the effort, considering where it is, how deep it is, how pure, how valuable. Then, there's funding it. Any schedule from initial investment to metal delivery may be measured in decades. Like lumber for instance. Who's gonna pay? I favor floating space-bonds, using that to build space infrastructure. Of course, the best market for space-based metal is, right there in space! It costs an enormous fortune to lift equipment into space. Just use space-metal to build space-infrastructure! Never bring it down to ol' Earth at all. Who would invest in such a scheme? Exploit resources that never see the surface of Earth? Why, anybody. Because it's all about rate of return baby. Never mind who benefits from the final product. Literally everything is still 'up in the air', pun intended. Lots to figure out.