Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Latest Breaking News
In reply to the discussion: Space mining startup set for launch in US [View all]Katashi_itto
(10,175 posts)27. LaGrange point 5 Would become a jumping off point
for caravans of alcohol-fueled spacecraft, heading like the wagon trains of the old west, for the six month voyage to the asteroid belt.
L-5 fueled by the incoming raw materials from the beltway, would eventually become a Sargasso sea of space colonies. Think of Colonies that were across the political and religous spectrum.
For those that thought it was to "crowded" and wanting "elbow room" they would head for the beltway...
Edit history
Please sign in to view edit histories.
160 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
RecommendedHighlight replies with 5 or more recommendations
I find your publicly traded cynical synopsis to be ironic, but not stronly so.
xtraxritical
Apr 2012
#59
Not at all. That grossly underestimates the sheer amount of resources present in asteroids.
TheWraith
Apr 2012
#12
To say nothing of the definition of "trace" in a twenty-gigaton object. (nt)
Posteritatis
Apr 2012
#16
Indeed. IIRC, there's actually some asteroids with quite a lot of precious metals in them.
backscatter712
Apr 2012
#82
Really cool ideas! I am sure either one or a hybrid of energy process will end up being a solution
Katashi_itto
Apr 2012
#121
You can use the dust of the asteroid mass you don't mine as reaction mass as well.
AtheistCrusader
Apr 2012
#133
The fuel that is easy to come by is Alchol. It's plentiful in that situation.
Katashi_itto
Apr 2012
#26
Hopefully this is real. Industry should be moved off our planet, not to mention us as well.
onehandle
Apr 2012
#8
What, are you kidding? This could be worth billions for the Bioweapons division! n/t
backscatter712
Apr 2012
#112
If the shell material is strong enough and the overall density low enough it could float in air..
Fumesucker
Apr 2012
#80
Distance dude, distance....unless we come up with something like warp drive...
Katashi_itto
Apr 2012
#31
There's enough planets for every human currently alive to have their own leaving trillions more
4th law of robotics
Apr 2012
#46
The nice thing about exploiting asteroids and such in the solar system...
backscatter712
Apr 2012
#85
Do you have any idea how huge an amount of materials we're talking about, here?
Occulus
Apr 2012
#110
It's almost like there's a word for these sorts of quantities. Astro-somethingorother. (nt)
Posteritatis
Apr 2012
#115
Looks Like James Cameron is Actually Trying to Live the "Avatar" Movie Plot......
solarman350
Apr 2012
#33
Or he acknowledges the fact that greed is what gets people to go to new places.
Katashi_itto
Apr 2012
#122
I'm sure you know this, but for the rest of the class, NASA explored this idea before...
TheWraith
Apr 2012
#39
Yep, your absolutely right :) Theorectically its the faster ship we can build.
Katashi_itto
Apr 2012
#40
Space being what it is, pretty "small" nudges and a few years' patience works, too.
Posteritatis
Apr 2012
#42
Thats right ! I'd totally forgotten about the mass driver concept. Very elegant.
Katashi_itto
Apr 2012
#43
I can't help but call it fear when you pose all these fear-based suppositions.
kentauros
Apr 2012
#150
The Earth isn't a vacuum cleaner, we have an object a quarter the size of Earth that "falls"...
Humanist_Activist
Apr 2012
#137
Because we aren't talking about a sudden thrust, but rather a slow acceleration...
Humanist_Activist
Apr 2012
#152
To put it simply, its not the fall that kills you, its the stop at the end...
Humanist_Activist
Apr 2012
#156
Yep, and the common people in 1491 knew the Earth was flat and Columbus would sail off the edge..
Fumesucker
Apr 2012
#89
My father was born in 1903, the year man achieved flight, he lived to see this picture..
Fumesucker
Apr 2012
#100
Just a gentle thought, a number of studies have put NASA RoI at 7:1 or higher.
Katashi_itto
Apr 2012
#103
Ummm,, sorry to burst your bubble..but we have always been greedy, avaricious and destructive...
Katashi_itto
Apr 2012
#120
It's sad that NASA is being overtaken by private enterprise when it comes to progress in space
Phoonzang
Apr 2012
#105
Did you forget about NEOs, Near Earth Objects, and Earth Crossing Objects...
Humanist_Activist
Apr 2012
#138
Well everything falls in space one way or another, (With a Monty Python Explanation!)
Katashi_itto
Apr 2012
#127
In that case, the counterweight is going faster around Earth than Earth's escape velocity...
Humanist_Activist
Apr 2012
#153