[extropy-chat] FWD [Skeptic] Re: defending the Vision for Space Exploration

[Mike Lorrey]

--- Adrian Tymes <wingcat at pacbell.net> wrote:

> --- "Terry W. Colvin" <fortean1 at mindspring.com> wrote: 
> > But there is
> > no money to be gained - at least in the short to
> > medium term - from the
> > pursuit of knowledge which underlies the sending of
> > unmanned missions to
> > Saturn, Titan and so on. What else could we get from
> > these places? Even
> > if they turned out to have interesting minerals, it
> > wouldn't be
> > cost-effective to ship them in bulk back to earth.
> > (There go all those
> > SF films about miners in space....)
> 
> Actually, it might be cost-effective to ship platinum
> and similar precious metals back from asteroids:

More than that. A ferrous asteroid delivered to LEO 1 km in dia would
be worth several trillion dollars. A private venture could deliver one
for less than a few billion dollars and 10 years lead time.

Precious metals would be present in such asteroids, but only in such
quantities to be of interest to smugglers working on mining/refining
them in orbit. There was a Jerry Pournelle novel on this subject years
ago...

Venous metals deposits are not typical of asteroids, as metal and other
mineral veins found on earth are generally an artifact of hydrothermal
leaching processes. Asteroids instead accrete material based on the
orbits they are in, with higher volatility materials accreting at
greater distance from the sun.

=====
Mike Lorrey
Vice-Chair, 2nd District, Libertarian Party of NH
"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom.
It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves."
                                      -William Pitt (1759-1806) 
Blog: http://www.xanga.com/home.aspx?user=Sadomikeyism

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