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If there are at all any economical amount of metals on the moon then you would either have to build a smelter on the moon or you would need to transport an enor
by flakeoil 3y ago
If there are at all any economical amount of metals on the moon then you would either have to build a smelter on the moon or you would need to transport an enormous amount of soil to earth (with just some tiny percent of metal content).
Even with a smelter on the moon, the amount and weight of the metal to transport to earth would be enormous.
And just imagine all the equipment needed. Huge dumper truck, haulers, grinding machines etc. For underground mining you would need concrete etc.
It would require so much fuel and energy to transport the vessels back and forth to make it completely pointless.
- odyssey7 3y agoThis is a great use case for von Neumann self-replicating machines. Little self-replicating space robots that fashion aerodynamic payloads and fire them to a small receiving site on the Earth. Just remember to include a stop signal, lest they consume in an unstoppable, exponential way.