I think the orbital speed would be a problem in so many ways. An asteroid has an average orbital speed (how fast an object orbits the sun) of 25 kilometers per second. However, asteroids orbiting closer to a sun will move faster than asteroids orbiting between Mars and Jupiter and beyond. The closest orbiting asteroid found so far is 2004 JG6 with an approximate orbital velocity of over 30 kilometers per second. It was discovered at the Lowell observatory on May 10, 2004.
not gonna happen in our life time. Or should i say not profitable in our life time. The energy costs alone would be huge.
I Think they are aiming for rare earths, they would be fully automated surely? Sounds interesting anyway
We'll in the movie The Moon they used clone humans to mine, that way when they die they can just get a new ones. Though in the movie Armageddon they had to drill on an asteroid but found it very hard since it was in a spin.
Mining asteroids is a science fiction dream, but in the real world I've had a doctor mine my ass for hemorrhoids which is kinda ballpark territory
NASA "A small, 10-meter (yard) S-type asteroid contains about 1,433,000 pounds (650,000 kg) of metal, with about 110 pounds (50 kg) in the form of rare metals like platinum and gold," said Lauretta. There are rare asteroids with about ten times more metal in them, the metallic or "M-class" asteroids, according to Lauretta. However, it currently costs hundreds of millions to billions of dollars to build and launch a space mission, so innovations that would make these costs fall dramatically are needed before it is profitable to mine asteroids for the value of their metals alone. http://www.nasa.gov/content/new-nasa-mission-to-help-us-learn-how-to-mine-asteroids/#.Us2mevtYWvM Another obstacle is simply our lack of experience with mapping and analyzing the resources in asteroids to extract material from them. This critical experience will be gained with NASA's asteroid sample return mission, OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security and Regolith Explorer). NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft will explore asteroid Bennu [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-VR6pNi70k[/youtube] Japan's - Hayabusa http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayabusa NASA Mission to investigate Vesta and Ceres http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/dawn/ceresvesta/index.html#.Us2qPPtYWvM
Not sure if folk are up todate on the VASIMR Plasma Engine but...that's what they are developing for missions to Mars and of cause, it's only early days but this technology could produce speeds of 30Km per second. How it works VASIMR heats plasma an electrically charged gas to extreme temperatures using radio waves. Strong magnetic fields then funnel this plasma out the back of the engine, creating thrust. The most advanced VASIMR engine is Ad Astra's 200-kilowatt VX-200. Testing out in space on the ISS is going ahead and planned for late 2014 > 2015. More info here: http://www.space.com/23613-advanced-space-propulsion-vasimr-engine.html http://www.trekmate.org.uk/ten-amazing-science-and-technology-innovations-coming-up-in-2014/ ISS Update: VASIMR Plasma Rocket [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4jf2F3YEAI[/youtube]
Its not the speed that's important (unless it is in the atomosphere), its the thrust. Any amount of thrust can get to high speeds given enough time. The important thing is the absolute thrust.
Time! Time is important! Thrust...yes...that's why they will use Argon and Krypton...the tech gears of thrust! If Argon is used, it's like first gear and is used to "get-away" from Earth but once free of Earth's gravity Krypton can be used for "real" power. H [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNda58_Vj80[/youtube] [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lrc-fP_EqF8[/youtube]
Fresh crater on Mars...not asteroid mining but...it's a great image. The crater spans approximately 100 feet (30 meters) in diameter and is surrounded by a large, rayed blast zone. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA17932 More info: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.p...&utm_campaign=NASAJPL&utm_content=mro20140205
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencet...massive-planet-diamonds-twice-size-Earth.html If we ever do work it out in a cost efficient way diamonds aren't going to be rare or worth much. http://www.neatorama.com/2008/12/01/10-facts-about-diamonds-you-should-know/#!uyjOt Oh wait, that's already the truth , my bad!
Planetary Resources Planetary Resources, Inc., formerly known as Arkyd Astronautics, is an American company which was formed in November 2010 http://www.planetaryresources.com/ Planetary Resources' mission. *Apply commercial, innovative techniques to explore space. *Develop low-cost robotic spacecraft to explore the thousands of resource-rich asteroids within our reach. *Learn everything we can about them, then develop the most efficient capabilities to deliver these resources directly to both space-based and terrestrial customers. Asteroid mining may sound like fiction, but it's just science. There are near-limitless numbers of asteroids and more being discovered every year. More than 1,500 are as easy to reach as the Moon and are in similar orbits as Earth. Asteroids are filled with precious resources, everything from water to platinum. Harnessing valuable minerals from a practically infinite source will provide stability on Earth, increase humanity's prosperity, and help establish and maintain human presence in space. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fYYPN0BdBw[/youtube] [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TsSLc_7wCE[/youtube]
how would a company profit by spending billions exploiting metals on asteriods and bringing them back to earth? how could they introduce 10000's of tons of PM's into the market without the flooding it. they would have bills to pay so they couldn't trickle it in slowly. gold wouldn't be gold if it was as common as copper.
A tad off topic but...Kepler is bringing home the bacon. NASA's Kepler mission announced Wednesday the discovery of 715 new planets. These newly-verified worlds orbit 305 stars, revealing multiple-planet systems much like our own solar system. Nearly 95 percent of these planets are smaller than Neptune, which is almost four times the size of Earth. This discovery marks a significant increase in the number of known small-sized planets more akin to Earth than previously identified exoplanets, which are planets outside our solar system. http://www.nasa.gov/ames/kepler/nasas-kepler-mission-announces-a-planet-bonanza/#.Uw6Sx85YWvM
So the next question is how do we get there ? Certainly only a matter of time, just adding from the above - Launched in March 2009, Kepler is the first NASA mission to find potentially habitable Earth-size planets. Discoveries include more than 3,600 planet candidates, of which 961 have been verified as bona-fide worlds. Start Trek - key music...
There are two (2) choices: 1. We either go to the asteroid to mine it, or 2. We bring the asteroid to us to mine it here. The second option is cheaper and limited to smaller bodies. However, the downside is that one minor miscalculation, and a lot of people die.
Probably have to wait for nanotech to make this viable, but it would be great if we could mine, smelt and cast or press gold bars and coins in situ, then use an electric rail gun to fire off a stream of gold kangas towards earth where they would rain down upon us in a golden shower.
