Asteroid mining

[Gladys]

Asteroid Mining Venture Backed by Google Execs, James Cameron Unveiled - Yahoo! News

It was only a matter of time before we started consuming resources elsewhere. There has to be a better solution.

[jester]

Asteroid Mining Venture Backed by Google Execs, James Cameron Unveiled - Yahoo! News

It was only a matter of time before we started consuming resources elsewhere. There has to be a better solution.

I understand your concern, Gladys, but I think it might also help to look at asteroid mining the same way we look at resources on Earth, too. Certain regions are good for growing coffee beans, and others for wine grapes, so we have to go to those areas for those commodities. And considering that the metals in question came from asteroids anyway, I don't think it's so bad to mine them. I'd also hope that the more we mine off-world, the less we'll mine on Earth. And this could really be the foothold we need to get people back in space. In one sense, it's a shame that it takes the profit motive to put a spark back into space exploration. However, if the flip side of that is the possibility of developing new technologies from the expertise we gain from going back to space, then I'm all for it. And who knows? Maybe some of those technologies will ultimately lessen our dependence on the very metals for which we're mining.

If there's anything that would give me cause for concern, it would be that as more and more countries get into space mining, we end up in a 21st century "gold rush" with accusations between countries of claim jumping and the like. I'd also hope that there would also be an increased emphasis on recycling the metals as needed from broken and/or obsolete devices. Figuring out how to more efficiently recycle what we've already got here on Earth may be the better solution for which you're looking.

Also, there's the likelihood of mining the moon in the foreseeable future as it is supposed to be an abundant source of helium-3, which is necessary for fusion research, leading to the hope for developing an efficient fusion reactor, with energy production orders of magnitude greater than current nuclear fission reactors. Helium-3 is rare on Earth, not to mention difficult and expensive to collect.