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IIRC a space-based smelter is a mirror to concentrate sunlight, a system to collect the melty bits. Some of this we might be able to make in space - boot strap
by bdunbar 15y ago
IIRC a space-based smelter is a mirror to concentrate sunlight, a system to collect the melty bits.
Some of this we might be able to make in space - boot strap a mirror factory and you've made the tools to make the tools.
Throwing bits of asteroid at the planet seems inefficient, to say the least.
How so? You can land the goods anywhere you want on earth. Sending stuff down a space elevator and you still need to ship it from the equator to wherever you need it.
After you apply the brakes, you don't need any more energy - the stuff is going downhill.
Granted, we can't simply drop iron on Cleavland where they can process it. Even if we assume pin-point delivery people are going to be reluctant to be at a potential ground-zero.
However lots of potential users are near water. The Great Lakes would make a great catcher's mitt for a few tons of air-dropped iron.
- CWuestefeld 15y agoThe Great Lakes would make a great catcher's mitt for a few tons of air-dropped iron. Not without an environmental impact study first.
- nitrogen 15y agoMaybe China will volunteer some remote quarter of their vast stretches of land as a crash landing pad. It might be worth completely sacrificing the environmental quality of a few dozen square miles of land (there's already tons of land that's naturally uninhabitable) to gain the resources available from space.
- bdunbar 15y agoI think you're missing the point. Wrap the goods in a capsule. Attach a parachute. Now you can land it anywhere you want, lawyers permitting.
- bdunbar 15y ago(snicker)