Asteroid Mining-How Soon?

[Radrook]

How soon can we expect this asteroid mining to begin? Which asteroids are good candidates? What difficulties do we have to surmount? What metals are the prime targets?

 

[High Fidelity]

How soon can we expect this asteroid mining to begin? Which asteroids are good candidates? What difficulties do we have to surmount? What metals are the prime targets?

The first instance will likely be this.

It's actually a fascinating mission in principle as it's more than just 'mining' as such(more so the collection of samples). It's part of a wider plan that will be one of the first few manned tests of the Orion capsule that's designed to take man to Mars.

2020s can't come soon enough! It's an amazing time if you're a space junkie like I am lol.

 

[SkyWriting]

How soon can we expect this asteroid mining to begin? Which asteroids are good candidates? What difficulties do we have to surmount? What metals are the prime targets?

I'dont believe we have any shortages worthy of space harvest.

 

[High Fidelity]

I'dont believe we have any shortages worthy of space harvest.

Perhaps not, but we do need to start thinking about a) how to go about it and b) manoeuvring asteroids the massive distances required to be more viable.

What will likely happen in some instances(as is already planned by NASA) is capturing asteroids to place in to lunar orbit.

 

[Heissonear]

Let look first at a very basic feasibility assessment.

Let's start by assuming the moon is an astroid and lithium is what we need for battery on Earth purpose.

So we are going to mine a locale on the moon that will be shipped backed.

I think one can see an energy imbalance in such an endeavor.

Energy intensive to get there. The energy to mine once there. And the energy to haul the x amount of lithium back.

Once the lithium hits Earth more energy is required to transport, process, and transport again to selling point.

So far things don't look promising from an energy balance point of view.

 

[SkyWriting]

Perhaps not, but we do need to start thinking about a) how to go about it and b) manoeuvring asteroids the massive distances required to be more viable.

What will likely happen in some instances(as is already planned by NASA) is capturing asteroids to place in to lunar orbit.

And Hillary is 90% sure to win.
No prophesy, please.

 

[Radrook]

The first instance will likely be this.

It's actually a fascinating mission in principle as it's more than just 'mining' as such(more so the collection of samples). It's part of a wider plan that will be one of the first few manned tests of the Orion capsule that's designed to take man to Mars.

2020s can't come soon enough! It's an amazing time if you're a space junkie like I am lol.

I feel the same way and only wish I were far younger so I could see the marvels that those who are born today will witness. Thanks for the link with the informative video. For some reason I had been under the impression that the mission was supposed to return a small asteroid and not a boulder from an asteroid. So I guess I misunderstood. Nevertheless it is still impressive and progress. It will certainly provide us with the experience which will give us give us more confidence in reaching out farther until we feel confident enough to reach for Mars. Better to take baby steps than to leap into a disaster.

 

[High Fidelity]

Let look first at a very basic feasibility assessment.

Let's start by assuming the moon is an astroid and lithium is what we need for battery on Earth purpose.

So we are going to mine a locale on the moon that will be shipped backed.

I think one can see an energy imbalance in such an endeavor.

Energy intensive to get there. The energy to mine once there. And the energy to haul the x amount of lithium back.

Once the lithium hits Earth more energy is required to transport, process, and transport again to selling point.

So far thing don't look promising from an energy balance point of view.

Energy will be easy if the technology produced can be ran with electricity.

Energy to return to Earth doesn't need to be massive either. The main amount of delta-v required will be to escape the Moon's sphere of influence. It doesn't need to be fast-moving from that point. Depending on the Moon's gravity, it may not even need to be fast-moving initially either. It can cruise back to Earth as slow as necessary then. By that point it'll be a matter of a computer running a simulation and telling them when to launch it so it lands within a specific area.

 

[High Fidelity]

And Hillary is 90% sure to win.
No prophesy, please.

What?

Capturing an asteroid and placing it in in to a lunar orbits is already a planned mission by NASA.

 

[High Fidelity]

I feel the same way and only wish I were far younger so I could see the marvels that those who are born today will witness. Thanks for the link with the informative video. For some reason I had been under the impression that the mission was supposed to return a small asteroid and not a boulder from an asteroid. So I guess I misunderstood. Nevertheless it is still impressive and progress. It will certainly provide us with the experience which will give us give us more confidence in reaching out farther until we feel confident enough to reach for Mars. Better to take baby steps than to leap into a disaster.

Right but at this stage it's laying foundations, seeing what works and what needs to improve. Some asteroids are multi-ton boulders, essentially.

With how accessible space is becoming with re-usability being factored in to newer rocket designs (such as SpaceX and Blue Origin), the prices are coming down. The sheer capability of these rockets and those in development as well even at this stage are also conducive to shifting enough hardware to LEO or higher certainly makes it possible.

There are asteroids out there that could supply Earth with metals for millennia. There's one that's having a probe sent to it in 6 years that contains metals worth an estimated 130,000~ times the value of the global economy.

So yes, worth looking in to!

 

[Radrook]

Well this carrot should get the buck-toothed rabbits running.

Found: The single asteroid that's worth £60 billion - as much as a year's financial output of the entire WORLD | Daily Mail Online

 

[Radrook]

Right but at this stage it's laying foundations, seeing what works and what needs to improve. Some asteroids are multi-ton boulders, essentially.

With how accessible space is becoming with re-usability being factored in to newer rocket designs (such as SpaceX and Blue Origin), the prices are coming down. The sheer capability of these rockets and those in development as well even at this stage are also conducive to shifting enough hardware to LEO or higher certainly makes it possible.

There are asteroids out there that could supply Earth with metals for millennia. There's one that's having a probe sent to it in 6 years that contains metals worth an estimated 130,000~ times the value of the global economy.

So yes, worth looking in to!

Good to hear that progress is being made in that direction. Many of us back in the sixties envisioned mankind having a lunar base by the year 2001 at the latest and traveling in ships such as the one depicted in the film 2001 a Space Odyssey when suddenly everything seemed to come to a sudden halt for no apparent reason. At least this manned asteroid Mission is moving us away from Earth orbit once more.

 

[Bungle_Bear]

Good to hear that progress is being made in that direction. Many of us back in the sixties envisioned mankind having a lunar base by the year 2001 at the latest and traveling in ships such as the one depicted in the film 2001 a Space Odyssey when suddenly everything seemed to come to a sudden halt for no apparent reason. At least this manned asteroid Mission is moving us away from Earth orbit once more.

Didn't you ever watch Space: 1999? That might have scared them off

 

[Radrook]

Didn't you ever watch Space: 1999? That might have scared them off

I watched many episodes of that weird series. True, it was rather hairaising!

 

[cloudyday2]

oops meant to post to the music thread, sorry.

 

[Gene2memE]

Well this carrot should get the buck-toothed rabbits running.

Found: The single asteroid that's worth £60 billion - as much as a year's financial output of the entire WORLD | Daily Mail Online

Two things:

1) The Mail link should be 60 Trillion, not Billion, and even then they're wrong (2014 GDP was $78 trillion)
2) The asteroid - Germania 241 - is a 175 km rock that is supposedly hydrocarbon rich. I don't believe it, as its difficult to classify C/B/X type asteroid. Even if it was super rich in hydrocarbons, the global oil/gas industry is worth about $180-220 billion a year.

What do you think happens to the value of a commodity when there's a dramatic over-supply of it?

 

[Radrook]

Two things:

1) The Mail link should be 60 Trillion, not Billion, and even then they're wrong (2014 GDP was $78 trillion)
2) The asteroid - Germania 241 - is a 175 km rock that is supposedly hydrocarbon rich. I don't believe it, as its difficult to classify C/B/X type asteroid. Even if it was super rich in hydrocarbons, the global oil/gas industry is worth about $180-220 billion a year.

What do you think happens to the value of a commodity when there's a dramatic over-supply of it?

You are right.

241 Germania

is a very large main-belt asteroid. It is classified as a B-type asteroid and is probably composed of dark, primitive carbonaceous material. It was discovered by Robert Luther on September 12, 1884 in Düsseldorf.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/241_Germania

Here the company that supposedly made that claim has an asteroid most lucrative list

Asterank is a scientific and economic database of over 600,000 asteroids.

We've collected, computed, or inferred important data such as asteroid mass and composition from multiple scientific sources. With this information, we estimate the costs and rewards of mining asteroids.

Details on orbits and basic physical parameters are sourced from the Minor Planet Center and NASA JPL. Composition data is based on spectral classification and size. Our calculations incorporate conclusions from multiple scientific publications in addition to cross-referencing known meteorite data.

http://www.asterank.com/[/quote]

 

[Radrook]

What?

Capturing an asteroid and placing it in in to a lunar orbits is already a planned mission by NASA.

One of the benefits is providing us with experience on how to intercept an asteroid in case we need to deviate it from hitting the Earth.

 

[Greg J.]

How soon can we expect this asteroid mining to begin? ...

When someone is willing to pay for it. I have a feeling they'll try just about everything else imaginable first. People are not going to fund it unless they believe it will be worth the cost.

 

[Radrook]

When someone is willing to pay for it. I have a feeling they'll try just about everything else imaginable first. People are not going to fund it unless they believe it will be worth the cost.

Maybe dragging it into Earth orbit and mining it there will be better?