Asteroid Mining Venture Backed by Google Execs, James Cameron Unveiled

[rkbabang]

"A single platinum-rich space rock 1,650 feet (500 meters) wide contains the equivalent of all the platinum-group metals ever mined throughout human history, company officials said...

 

"We're out there right now, talking to customers," Anderson said. "We are open for discussions with companies - aerospace companies, mining companies, prospecting companies, resource companies. We're out working in that field, to really open up the solar system for business."

 

Asteroid Mining Venture Backed by Google Execs, James Cameron Unveiled

 

 

 

[NormR]

Why does this sound like a plan by Dr. Evil?  ;)

[Olmsted]

I'm surprised the Google guys didn't invest Google money in this - that's their MO!

 

From a non-investment point of view, though, this sounds totally awesome.  Good for these guys, to be willing to burn some cash in pursuit of something great.

[rkbabang]

From a non-investment point of view, though, this sounds totally awesome.  Good for these guys, to be willing to burn some cash in pursuit of something great.

 

That's how I feel about it as well.  I've been sold on the idea of asteroid mining since when I was an avid scifi reader in my teens.  I'm excited as all hell to start watching how this venture progresses.  Someone is finally going to try to make space profitable, which could mean that all of humanity might not be trapped on this one little rock (with its parasitical governments) for much longer.  Now that we've covered all the inhabitable land on the globe, what humanity desperately needs is a new frontier to escape to.

 

[tombgrt]

Exciting news.

 

From a non-investment point of view, though, this sounds totally awesome.  Good for these guys, to be willing to burn some cash in pursuit of something great.

 

That's how I feel about it as well.  I've been sold on the idea of asteroid mining since when I was an avid scifi reader in my teens.  I'm excited as all hell to start watching how this venture progresses.  Someone is finally going to try to make space profitable, which could mean that all of humanity might not be trapped on this one little rock (with its parasitical governments) for much longer.  Now that we've covered all the inhabitable land on the globe, what humanity desperately needs is a new frontier to escape to.

 

 

With current technology it takes 50,000 years to reach the nearest star and at close to light speed it would take about 6 years.  Eventually it should happen for us to survive as a species but our chances are slim. Fingers crossed tho!

[rkbabang]

With current technology it takes 50,000 years to reach the nearest star and at close to light speed it would take about 6 years.  Eventually it should happen for us to survive as a species but our chances are slim. Fingers crossed tho!

 

We won't reach other stars for a long time, but we have a whole solar system to settle first.  Not only some planets (8 or 9 or more depending how you count them, but only a few rocky), but a bunch of moons and a ton of asteroids large enough to contain large settlements/cities/etc...  This doesn't protect the species from the burn out of the sun (but we have time before that). And it doesn't protect us from a large nearby supernova. But it does give us protection from one large terrestrial event wiping us all out, such as an asteroid/comet impact, super volcano eruption, or governmental stupidity like nuclear/chemical/biological warfare.