Plans for Asteroid Mining Emerge

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17827347

The article discusses a project founded by billionaires James Cameron, Larry Page, and Eric Schmidt that involves obtaining resources from asteroids in outer space that pass near the Earth. The cost of the technology and processes that is required to obtain the resources and transport them to the Earth however would cost much more than the actual resources are worth. Therefore, it seems like this project may be a waste since it is not cost efficient at all. However, with the resources on Earth depleting faster and faster, and sustainability not becoming a priority for many people, I think it is important that technologies like these are developed so that some day, we can extend them to include not only the gold and platinum they are trying to extract in the near future, but also resources that can be used to make the materials that we are running low on here on Earth. The idea of using outer space for commercial reasons rather than just exploration is fascinating and hopefully will be beneficial to all the parties involved.

I think this is a good idea because sooner or later the Earth’s resources will essentially be gone. So we need to find other ways to obtain resources that are necessary to our survival. We have renewable energy resources that are a good option for energy, but at least this asteroid mining provides another option we could use. Of course it would be the billionaires that would be mining in outer space, personally I think it would be better if it was the government doing it, but I guess most governments can’t afford it at the moment. But with the mining being private, prices will definitely go up because the billionaires will be selling it to other companies on Earth and to the government so it will cost governments and those other companies more to buy it from them since those resources will be in high demand. I agree with the scientists in the article that it would be highly unlikely they would have a fuel depot in space by 2020. There’s so much to do and so many risks that I think that date is a bit unrealistic. The rocket fuel idea, which seems like it would work, would probably be very expensive, as there would be many steps involved with converting water in space to liquid hydrogen and oxygen. It would take heaps of money to accomplish what they want but I think eventually it will happen and the billionaires will get even richer. Space tourism and asteroid mining also relate to the idea of space colonies. Could you imagine growing up in space? That’d be incredible, you would be able to look outside your window and see the beauty of the planet Earth. I myself would never want to live in space, because the very thought of it freaks me out a bit, it would be a remarkable experience, but still scary. And I know that this is so far away from now but it will probably happen too, one day…