Luxembourg plans to pioneer asteroid mining

[Judi Lynn]

Source: ABC News (Australia)

Luxembourg plans to pioneer asteroid mining

Updated about 4 hours ago

As Earth cooled during the early phase of its formation, most heavy substances — including valuable ones like gold — sank toward its core, making them inaccessible.

As a result, mineral extraction is now beginning to explore a new frontier: space.

Luxembourg has announced plans to pioneer the potentially lucrative business of mining asteroids in space for gold, platinum and tungsten.

The Government said it planned to create a legal framework for exploiting resources beyond Earth's atmosphere, and said it welcomed private investors and other nations.





Read more: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-02-04/space-mining-plans-unveiled-by-luxembourg/7138380

[Android3.14]

1. It's going to take a space elevator

Luxembourg?

Maybe they plan to become the Cayman Islands for SpaceX style companies.

How are we supposed to take this seriously?

[hollysmom]

2. another Clarke fan?

I have not had anyone to talk about the space elevators since forever, My friends read either romance or investment books. I am the only scifi reader in my personal life since I got divorced, it was the one thing I actually shared with my ex.

[Android3.14]

4. Serious sci-fi fan here

I grew up with Clarke, but for the Golden Agers, I tend to lean towards Heinlein, Silverberg and Herbert. I actually saw Frank Herbert speak at University of North Texas back in the early '90s.

I've been reading some super stuff lately, but not near as many stories as I used to read. There is so much coming out these days as a result of epublishing. So much crap, but also many more superb novels.

Have you checked out Ready Player One or anything by John Scalzi?

[Android3.14]

8. For serious LEO predictions, check out Seveneves by Neal Stephenson

It's a fricken' amazing story.

[hollysmom]

10. thanks

[Marty McGraw]

14. I keep meaning

to watch the documentary.



http://movie25.hk/sky-line-2015-63281.html

[hollysmom]

16. oh, I had no idea, I will ahve to look for it, thanks

[daleo]

23. Kim Stanley Robinson uses the idea extensively, as well

[DetlefK]

7. Next to impossible.

We could build a space elevator and there's a tricky construction-method where we wouldn't even need super-strong materials. All we had to do would be to lower 1000 tons of steel-cable from a space-station in orbit while that space station continuously climbs into higher orbits to keep the center-of-mass at the right height.

Luxembourg has the wrong latitude for rocket-launches into orbit.

Yeah, tax-haven for space-companies is the only possible way.

[LittleBlue]

19. All they'd have to do is blow the metals up like styrofoam

And send giant air-filled balls of gold and platinum to the earth at 60MPH, nowhere near dense enough to achieve a large velocity.

They could plop down in the middle of an otherwise vacant area, be collected and then melted down.

[Android3.14]

20. I haven;t seen this idea before

It sounds intriguing. Do you know if there is a term for it or a link describing it in more detail?

[LittleBlue]

22. Yeah sure. It came from a video I watched

The video is here:

&t=27m55s

A brief discussion is here:

http://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/53949/does-the-metal-foam-whiffleball-orbital-reentry-idea-make-any-sense



My only question is the softness of these metals. The space in between would presumably be a vacuum. Wouldn't it implode when it got to a high enough pressure? And what would happen then?

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

3. I hear a mouse roaring ... (nt)

[hollysmom]

5. OH dear, I must have read that book 3 or 4 times, it just made me laugh so much

this is turning into my reading list when is someone going to mention Vonnegut?

[KamaAina]

15. *

[Baclava]

6. What the Belters mine, the Belters keep! - Earthers will get a cut of the profits - that's all

Go to Ceres and set up a base there. Nothing comes back to earth, all the raw materials to be used to build mining colonies is out there. 1000 miles in diameter, Ceres has more water than all the Earth's oceans. This frozen fresh water can also be made into hydrogen/oxygen fuel.

A base at Cere's position would make it a good gas station for trips throughout the solar system. With only 3% of Earth's gravity, it won't take much to escape Ceres after refueling.



Genetically modified human colonists with increased radiation resistance and enhanced for low gravity environments would be best. They will not be returning to earth either.

Robots would do most of the work.

[DetlefK]

9. Problems, problems, problems.

- Energy: The asteroid-belt is too far out for solar-power. Thermoelectric batteries need radioactive material, really strong stuff. Fusion-reactors will come in 50-100 years.

- Leakage of air and water simply by going in and out of hatches... You would need a whole biosphere just to stay barely alive. And we still have problems creating artificial biospheres with stable climate and plant-life.

- Trips: You would still need some kind of fuel for actio=reactio-propulsion-engines. And Sol is one hell of a strong gravity-well. Except with a fly-by, small spacecraft will have a hard time leaving the inner zone of the solar system.

- Humans cannot survive in space for more than a few years, because of medical problems. We have no idea how human embryos grow in zero-gravity. Mice-embryos exhibit serious deformations.

- Well, there is a gene for increased resistance to radiation. It was developed by a fungus growing in the Chernobyl reactor...

[Baclava]

11. Details, details. They said it was impossible to go to the moon too.

Hollowed out smaller asteroids could be used for habitats as well as spacecraft.



100 years ago people laughed at airplanes as cloth and piano wire contraptions that would never amount to much.

100 years from now people will look back and laugh at our supposed superiority in science knowledge.

[JoeyT]

12. Leakage could be solved by having staged airlocks

where a vacuum is pulled against them. It wouldn't 100% eliminate the losses, but it would cut them down to nearly nothing. It would take quite a bit of energy and time every time someone wanted to go out or come in, though.

The second to last point you made is going to be the killer. Reduced gravity is super unhealthy. It's going to be hard to be a miner when your bones are getting weaker and your heart is getting smaller.

[KamaAina]

17. Artificial gravity?

Get the smaller asteroids to rotate?

[Marty McGraw]

13. Looks like someone's

Been watching too much of the latest SyFy series

[Blue_Adept]

18. Science fiction becomes science reality

So many of our social and political problems have been hashed out in SF novels for decades. They're the roadmaps to what we become.