Space mining startup set for launch in US [View all]

Source: Agence France-Presse

Space mining startup set for launch in US
AFP
April 21, 2012, 1:51 pm

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - A startup evidently devoted to mining asteroids for metals is to make its public debut on Tuesday in the US northwest city of Seattle, seeking to redefine the term "natural resources."

X Prize founder Peter Diamandis and a former NASA astronaut are slated to unveil Planetary Resources, which boasts an impressive list of backers including Google co-founder Larry Page and famed film maker James Cameron.

"The company will overlay two critical sectors -- space exploration and natural resources -- to add trillions of dollars to the global GDP," Planetary Resources said in a brief release announcing the Tuesday press event in the Pacific Northwest city.
"This innovative start-up will create a new industry and a new definition of 'natural resources.'"

Read more: http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/world/13488826/space-mining-startup-set-for-launch-in-us/

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160 replies	Author	Time	Post
Space mining startup set for launch in US [View all]	Judi Lynn	Apr 2012	OP
Bet the only money made will be on the stock market.	shraby	Apr 2012	#1
And on Apr 15	JustABozoOnThisBus	Apr 2012	#2
Zackly. And not by any of us rubes, either. nt	Nay	Apr 2012	#4
Given that it's not a publicly traded company...	TheWraith	Apr 2012	#13
I find your publicly traded cynical synopsis to be ironic, but not stronly so.	xtraxritical	Apr 2012	#59
That's what I thought.	harmonicon	Apr 2012	#14
Helium 3 's potential economic value is as high as ~ $3 Billion a ton	Motown_Johnny	Apr 2012	#146
It would seem	quaker bill	Apr 2012	#3
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
Exactly. In this case, "trace" amounts of gold means ~10,000 tons.	TheWraith	Apr 2012	#23
Indeed. IIRC, there's actually some asteroids with quite a lot of precious metals in them.	backscatter712	Apr 2012	#82
Notes on platinum and iridium.	TheWraith	Apr 2012	#98
Just looking at iridium's properties.	backscatter712	Apr 2012	#131
This could be highly profitable. Energy is easy to come by in space.	Katashi_itto	Apr 2012	#5
I love that picture and agree with you about how important this first move is	lunatica	Apr 2012	#22
LaGrange point 5 Would become a jumping off point	Katashi_itto	Apr 2012	#27
For the darker side, watch Outland	BootinUp	Apr 2012	#50
Or better yet, watch the Star Trek episode with the Horta.	TheWraith	Apr 2012	#54
High Moon	CBGLuthier	Apr 2012	#57
Outland Trailer	Katashi_itto	Apr 2012	#60
Agreed, and agreed, and agreed, and agreed, and ...	calimary	Apr 2012	#61
Why thank you! :) Here is some real deep space footage too!	Katashi_itto	Apr 2012	#62
Oh man - isn't that the most beautiful?!	calimary	Apr 2012	#64
I'm also glad this first step is being taken.	kentauros	Apr 2012	#108
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
Thanks for the laughs!	kentauros	Apr 2012	#124
You can use the dust of the asteroid mass you don't mine as reaction mass as well.	AtheistCrusader	Apr 2012	#133
YES!	Crowman1979	Apr 2012	#6
Would be pretty cool if we found too many resources so that we wouldn't even	chrisa	Apr 2012	#19
The fuel that is easy to come by is Alchol. It's plentiful in that situation.	Katashi_itto	Apr 2012	#26
Actually, it's not really that difficult at all.	TheWraith	Apr 2012	#36
And as you said above, here, "trace" is relative	Occulus	Apr 2012	#109
Not to mention that there will be some place for the "I don't like Government"	Thor_MN	Apr 2012	#7
Hopefully this is real. Industry should be moved off our planet, not to mention us as well.	onehandle	Apr 2012	#8
As long as we avoid LV-426, I predict great things for this company.	Robb	Apr 2012	#9
And Cruithne.	Igel	Apr 2012	#15
Haha :)	Katashi_itto	Apr 2012	#30
What, are you kidding? This could be worth billions for the Bioweapons division! n/t	backscatter712	Apr 2012	#112
All these worlds are yours, except Europa.	bluedigger	Apr 2012	#10
:)	Katashi_itto	Apr 2012	#29
I think it has a chance to turn a dime.	sofa king	Apr 2012	#11
I think the hardest part is going to be returning the ore to the Earth.	TheWraith	Apr 2012	#37
Blow bubbles of the material and you don't need to soft land them..	Fumesucker	Apr 2012	#73
Now that could be a thought.	TheWraith	Apr 2012	#77
If the shell material is strong enough and the overall density low enough it could float in air..	Fumesucker	Apr 2012	#80
I'm thinking the material is more valuable up there.	sofa king	Apr 2012	#125
If they can turn a profit this will be the beginning of the Second Space Age.	Fearless	Apr 2012	#17
That's kinda like the game "Blockade Runner." lol	chrisa	Apr 2012	#18
I love this idea whether it works or not	lunatica	Apr 2012	#20
Yep. Like seeing people thinking further than the next election. (nt)	Posteritatis	Apr 2012	#24
Step 1) get funding for "asteroid mining	4th law of robotics	Apr 2012	#21
They've raped the earth enough and now it is onto the Universe.....	Smilo	Apr 2012	#25
The Universe will definitely survive mankind	lunatica	Apr 2012	#28
Distance dude, distance....unless we come up with something like warp drive...	Katashi_itto	Apr 2012	#31
And misanthropy, don't forget misanthropy. (nt)	Posteritatis	Apr 2012	#32
And here come the misanthropes.	Odin2005	Apr 2012	#44
If they think the universe is so much better without us...	TheWraith	Apr 2012	#72
Yep. (nt)	Posteritatis	Apr 2012	#75
I wanted to post the same thing, but I was afraid it would get hidden.	Odin2005	Apr 2012	#90
And here come the name callers	The2ndWheel	Apr 2012	#143
There's enough planets for every human currently alive to have their own leaving trillions more	4th law of robotics	Apr 2012	#46
isn't that LDS religious doctrine?	waddirum	Apr 2012	#69
Uh, no, it's objective fact. (nt)	Posteritatis	Apr 2012	#74
I think they only get theirs when they die	4th law of robotics	Apr 2012	#87
Going by sheer numbers it's literally true.	Occulus	Apr 2012	#111
We don't even have to leave our own solar system.	backscatter712	Apr 2012	#86
The nice thing about exploiting asteroids and such in the solar system...	backscatter712	Apr 2012	#85
Earth First!!! Asteroids Next!!!!	MMJjestic	Apr 2012	#95
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
I know right! After those thousand or so truckloads of material are taken	snooper2	Apr 2012	#129
Looks Like James Cameron is Actually Trying to Live the "Avatar" Movie Plot......	solarman350	Apr 2012	#33
Getting some of humanity off planet, is a good survival tactic.	Katashi_itto	Apr 2012	#34
Mining Asteroids like like exploiting an earth-like planet???	Odin2005	Apr 2012	#47
cameron wants to get into the off-world mining bizness	solarman350	Apr 2012	#117
Or he acknowledges the fact that greed is what gets people to go to new places.	Katashi_itto	Apr 2012	#122
cameron et al want to get into a for-profit off-world mining bizness	solarman350	Apr 2012	#118
Move the entire asteroid into earth orbit	krispos42	Apr 2012	#35
Thats a viable way to bring asteroids closer.	Katashi_itto	Apr 2012	#38
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
No, I didn't know that	krispos42	Apr 2012	#53
I love Footfall. Niven & Pournell's best collaboration.	Johnny Rico	Apr 2012	#70
I love Niven's "Know Space" series	Katashi_itto	Apr 2012	#79
I've meant to read Footfall, never got around to it.	TheWraith	Apr 2012	#71
"The Mote in God's Eye" is very good n/t	krispos42	Apr 2012	#88
You wouldn't need bombs or ion drives	OnlinePoker	Apr 2012	#41
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
Seriously?	mojowork_n	Apr 2012	#135
You need to read up on Langrangian Points:	kentauros	Apr 2012	#136
I'm not convinced. Sorry.	mojowork_n	Apr 2012	#140
So, in other words,	kentauros	Apr 2012	#145
Don't make this personal, OK?	mojowork_n	Apr 2012	#148
I can't help but call it fear when you pose all these fear-based suppositions.	kentauros	Apr 2012	#150
Oddly enough, even the worse case scenario would be correctable...	Humanist_Activist	Apr 2012	#151
The Earth isn't a vacuum cleaner, we have an object a quarter the size of Earth that "falls"...	Humanist_Activist	Apr 2012	#137
See reply #140. n/t	mojowork_n	Apr 2012	#141
Yeeeeeah, gravity doesn't work that way. (nt)	Posteritatis	Apr 2012	#139
See reply #140. n/t	mojowork_n	Apr 2012	#142
Put away the 1940s SF and pick up a physics or astronomy textbook	Posteritatis	Apr 2012	#147
OK, elaborate.	mojowork_n	Apr 2012	#149
Because we aren't talking about a sudden thrust, but rather a slow acceleration...	Humanist_Activist	Apr 2012	#152
That's like the dude from Syracuse	mojowork_n	Apr 2012	#154
To put it simply, its not the fall that kills you, its the stop at the end...	Humanist_Activist	Apr 2012	#156
Good reply.	mojowork_n	Apr 2012	#157
Most asteroids aren't layered at all...	Humanist_Activist	Apr 2012	#158
YAY! This is what progress looks like!	Odin2005	Apr 2012	#45
Ted Talk: more interesting stuff :)	Katashi_itto	Apr 2012	#48
If they find a marker, for fuck's sake LEAVE IT ALONE	Blue_Tires	Apr 2012	#49
This has always been a good idea	malthaussen	Apr 2012	#51
Kicked and recommended.	Uncle Joe	Apr 2012	#52
K&R, but I'm skeptical. Best of luck to them.	caseymoz	Apr 2012	#55
Start up costs are great. But once you claw your way out of	Katashi_itto	Apr 2012	#56
The costs of landing are just as great or more.	caseymoz	Apr 2012	#63
Actually no, you dont bring the original vehicle back. because	Katashi_itto	Apr 2012	#66
Well, you either guide it to earth with some vehicle	caseymoz	Apr 2012	#107
I'd assume the extraction would be mostly or entirely automated, yeah	Posteritatis	Apr 2012	#58
In energy it's not going to be cheap coming down.	caseymoz	Apr 2012	#65
You need to look at more than just one small segment of the problem.	Katashi_itto	Apr 2012	#67
I'm not calling it a wash.	caseymoz	Apr 2012	#106
Come on, come on, come on...	awoke_in_2003	Apr 2012	#68
No wonder Google is researching Space Elevators in its Secret Google X labs	Vehl	Apr 2012	#76
Nice! I wonder if they will figure out a way to overcome weak force	Katashi_itto	Apr 2012	#78
Dont know, But wiki has some interesting info	Vehl	Apr 2012	#83
Google being Google, I'd assume they're researching all of them. (nt)	Posteritatis	Apr 2012	#84
very cool, thanks for posting that!	Katashi_itto	Apr 2012	#101
THC content must be really high for those investors.....	MindMover	Apr 2012	#81
Yep, and the common people in 1491 knew the Earth was flat and Columbus would sail off the edge..	Fumesucker	Apr 2012	#89
There is air which has density and mass and then there is space......	MindMover	Apr 2012	#93
Already been done..	Fumesucker	Apr 2012	#94
That is a big rock and I own it......	MindMover	Apr 2012	#96
I really really like your avatar... it's.. it's.. hypn..oo..tt..	Fumesucker	Apr 2012	#97
Ok, keep looking at the center of my avatar and repeat after me.....	MindMover	Apr 2012	#99
My father was born in 1903, the year man achieved flight, he lived to see this picture..	Fumesucker	Apr 2012	#100
What a wonderful picture of our beautiful spaceship.....thanks	MindMover	Apr 2012	#102
And in 1880 most people thought airplanes were a pipe dream.	Odin2005	Apr 2012	#91
In my tragically-underfunded high school in the late 90s...	Posteritatis	Apr 2012	#92
Just a gentle thought, a number of studies have put NASA RoI at 7:1 or higher.	Katashi_itto	Apr 2012	#103
I love NASA and especially its capabilities......	MindMover	Apr 2012	#104
Thankfully, this will happen in spite of people such as yourself.	Occulus	Apr 2012	#113
WOW, we went from mining rocks on other planets to space travel....	MindMover	Apr 2012	#114
Ummm,, sorry to burst your bubble..but we have always been greedy, avaricious and destructive...	Katashi_itto	Apr 2012	#120
Yeah, you're right....	PavePusher	Apr 2012	#160
It's sad that NASA is being overtaken by private enterprise when it comes to progress in space	Phoonzang	Apr 2012	#105
Given that we still haven't resolved how to safely send men to Mars	NickB79	Apr 2012	#116
The idea's to bring small asteroids to near-Earth space. (nt)	Posteritatis	Apr 2012	#119
All those elements have been given decades of consideration	Katashi_itto	Apr 2012	#123
Not all of the asteroids are out between Mars and Jupiter.	backscatter712	Apr 2012	#130
Did you forget about NEOs, Near Earth Objects, and Earth Crossing Objects...	Humanist_Activist	Apr 2012	#138
A "heavy captured asteroid" is one of the space elevator counterweight ideas	DaveJ	Apr 2012	#126
Well everything falls in space one way or another, (With a Monty Python Explanation!)	Katashi_itto	Apr 2012	#127
What if the Moon falls?	Fumesucker	Apr 2012	#128
Technically speaking the moon is in a constant state of falling.	Gore1FL	Apr 2012	#134
In the case of the asteroid as a space elevator counterweight...	backscatter712	Apr 2012	#132
In that case, the counterweight is going faster around Earth than Earth's escape velocity...	Humanist_Activist	Apr 2012	#153
Deep Space 9 - - - Ferengi Rules of Acquisition	Baclava	Apr 2012	#144
About frigging time!	pfitz59	Apr 2012	#155
Someone please give Newt a shovel and pick ax!	MatthewStLouis	Apr 2012	#159