Asteroid Mining: The Future Or the End of the World Economy?

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[timothyhouse]

I can only imagine a mega corporation slamming an asteroid into Earth while trying to bring it closer to mine because they cut cost somewhere. That sounds like something a business would do.

[lynnabel]

Achieving mining and manufacturing solutions will be the goal. Semi-automated, full autonomous and 3D manufacturing machines could be employed to build a large space station en route from the asteroids current position to a safe orbit around our planet.

[davidpepin]

In the section "Too much of a good thing", Simon mentions that if the miners bring back too much of the precious metal, since there will be so much, it will be worthless. That is not true since only one compagny would have it and they will dictate the price, much like the pharmaceutical companies are doing with some products.

[boomanh]

I used to work in an industry in the 1990's that used Helium, yes, 5 decimal points, in it's equipment. It was crazy expensive back then, I can't even imagine what it going for now. Standard Helium used in children's ballons had way too many impurities for the low temperatures that equipment was used to create.

[kylegoldston]

The abundance of such " rare " materials would lead to technology we can't imagine.

[ignitionfrn]

1:30 - Chapter 1 - Why asteroids are specials
2:55 - Mid roll ads
4:35 - Chapter 2 - How asteroid mining works
8:55 - Chapter 3 - Too much of a good thing ?
10:25 - Chapter 4 - The real future of space mining

[markharder]

Another potential problem may be that the asteroid is too rich in rare metals. If too many of the right minerals are found in one deposit, it could be impossible to separate them economically. I know of one such deposit here in Oregon; very rich in bismuth, tin, etc. but the minerals can't be processed into concentrates of each metal separately. Since the formation of ore deposits on Earth depends on unique conditions found in geographically separated locations in the Earth's crust, ores of different metals are found separate zones, making the purification of one or a few of these relatively easy. But these conditions are most certainly not the same in asteroids, which are not likely to have experienced the same tectonic processes as occur on Earth.

[felixflorian]

The most important thing that should be on everyone mind currently should be how to invest in different sources of income that doesn't depend on the government. Especially with the current economic crisis around the world 🌍. This is still a good time to invest in various stocks gold, silver and digital currencies

[zackerymeltonturdle]

Please, for the love of all that's holy, make a space channel, you have videos you could upload already, plus the obvious future ones to come.

[DragonsinGenesisPodcast]

Mining companies would stockpile the elements in the same way that diamonds are held to maintain scarcity. Trickle the goodies out enough to make a profit but not enough to devalue the minerals.

[daiakunin]

Commercial asteroid mining is definitely viable. Just ask the hard working crew of the Uscss Nostromo.

[davidcashin]

Always love it when someone does the math on projects like this.

[billmcdonough]

7:15 - Hayabusa was not NASA. It was Japan's JAXA.
7:35 - OSIRIS-REx's cost including the launch vehicle is only $985M, not 'at least a billion dollars', which includes the projected cost of the post-return mission to Apophis, OSIRIS-APEX. It's also not 'preparing to return to Earth'. It collected the sample more than 2 years ago, and is now only 5-6 months from the September sample return date. That means it's well on its way.

[UncleRayRayGarageEmporium]

Helium3 is in abundance in space bodies. It is used in fusion reactors and could lead to faster breakthroughs once a large source is found.

[lintana]

It would be one of the greatest world economical moments ever!! Just imagine, the amount of materials that could be used from space, with so many times the size of our planet compressed together!! Materials in space are goin to be a key thing to use for space exploration and expansion of living in our solar system!!

[atarynspace]

I kinda hate the idea that working together to advance humanity's quality of life for thousands of years isn't viable because it won't make profit 😥

[daikansanchez]

The whole heavy metals (lml) crashing the economy thing already happened at a point in history when the silver extracted by the Spanish Empire from the Americas created an economic imbalance that was felt in China in the early 1700s.

[sywrexile]

I just see The Expanse happening, but I'm jaded & cynical.

[panpiper]

If I wanted to mine asteroids, I would skip the small asteroids and go straight to Ceres. It has sufficient gravity that landing is actually easy, but not so much that taking off again is difficult. It has LOADS of water, along with all the other elements one might want. Ceres could be so effective for extra-terrestrial mining that IMO it makes more sense for a first colony location than Mars. While there is little one can profitably do on Mars, an export industry on Ceres could make it the most profitable colony location in the solar system.

[jeremytipton]

Actually it would probably be better to process them on location.
As the average temperature of the asteroid belt is fairly close
To the temperature at which iron and Nickle become brittle.
The mined chunks could then be transported to mercury for
Refining in solar forges.