[quote]A new study might contain some bad news for companies hoping to mine asteroids for their valuable ores.
In the last couple of years, start-ups - including one backed by Sir Richard Branson - have announced plans to extract resources from space rocks.
But calculations by Dr Martin Elvis suggest our cosmic neighbourhood might not be such a treasure trove after all.[/quote]
[img]http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/72261000/jpg/_72261107_72261106.jpg[/img]
[url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-25716103[/url]
Someone tell the devs of Space Engineers to cancel the game.
I would like to imagine finding fossil fuels on an asteroid, scientists everywhere would be so confused.
[quote]Broader range
But Eric Anderson pointed to what he said were key errors in the study.
"Number one, the author points to an assumption of only wanting to go to M-type asteroids," he told BBC News.
"Assuming we were only going after platinum-group metals, the most platinum-rich asteroids are the C-class ones." Fragments of these asteroids are known as carbonaceous chondrites when they fall to Earth.
In addition, Planetary Resources' engineers were prepared to include objects that required a delta-v of 7km/s, a more ambitious limit than the 4.5km/s used in Dr Elvis' study.
"I think the study is probably off by a factor of 100, conservatively, and I think it's off by a factor of 1,000 optimistically," Mr Anderson added.
Osiris Rex, artist's impression Sample return missions, like Nasa's Osiris-Rex, could help us understand how best to mine asteroids
"We've been studying this with some of the brightest people in the world for the last three years. We are intimately familiar with the risks and other factors.
"We have only discovered 1% of the asteroids in the Solar System - and we are discovering them at a larger and larger rate. We discover two or three asteroids a day. If we get from 1% to 10%, then the 650,000 asteroids we have discovered jumps to 6.5 million."
The analysis also looked at the number of asteroids that could be profitably mined for water, which could be used in space for life support or separated into hydrogen and oxygen for rocket fuel. The number of suitable water-bearing asteroids larger than 100m was around 18.
Dr Elvis told BBC News: "I want to stress that my paper does not mean that there is no commercial future for asteroid mining. It does mean that gold mines are rare, which shouldn't be too surprising. Not every mountain on Earth hides a fortune, and not every flying mountain in space will either."[/quote]
You forgot this bit.
Edit: Holy shit, wot a terrible title.
This is all just theorizing. We don't know what all is out there that has yet to be found.
Also this is really really sensationalized. Good work BBC.
No it isn't sensationalized.
If you idiots can't follow a link and read the rest of the article its not mine, or the BBC's fault.
One day you could probably look at a spoon and say "This was made from the remains of obliterated planatoids..."
Pardon my spelling on that last word.
[QUOTE=TheMrFailz;43528052]One day you could probably look at a spoon and say "This was made from the remains of obliterated planatoids..."
Pardon my spelling on that last word.[/QUOTE]
You can say that now and it would be just as accurate as it would be then.
[QUOTE=NoDachi;43528042]No it isn't sensationalized.
If you idiots can't follow a link and read the rest of the article its not mine, or the BBC's fault.[/QUOTE]
Judging from a bit of it it looks like it's mostly saying the rich asteroids in rare metals we need may just be not as close to earth and easy to get to as thought. Not that space mining isn't profitable.
[QUOTE=mc lovin;43528248]Judging from a bit of it it looks like it's mostly saying the rich asteroids in rare metals we need may just be not as close to earth and easy to get to as thought. Not that space mining isn't profitable.[/QUOTE]
It does mean that many of these companies are going to have to go back to their backers and say they're probably not going to get the return they had hoped.
[QUOTE=mc lovin;43528248]Judging from a bit of it it looks like it's mostly saying the rich asteroids in rare metals we need may just be not as close to earth and easy to get to as thought. Not that space mining isn't profitable.[/QUOTE]
Proximity to earth and ease of access has a huge effect on profitability.
Dr. Elvis sounds like he just wanted to rain on peoples parade.
He chose to use the costs of current space missions and the estimated costs of currently experimental space mining techniques to say that returning a profit in space mining would be difficult. This ignores the expectation that better technology will drastically reduce the costs of operating in space in the future.
As another Dr. pointed out, he also only addressed the mineral content of type-m asteroids - not the mineral content of type-c asteroids which are the ones we WANT to mine.
The only genuinely decent point Dr. Elvis makes is this:
[quote]Dr Elvis told BBC News: "I want to stress that my paper does not mean that there is no commercial future for asteroid mining. It does mean that gold mines are rare, which shouldn't be too surprising. Not every mountain on Earth hides a fortune, and not every flying mountain in space will either."[/quote]
That's true, the idea that every single asteroid out in space is a treasure trove is a silly one. But that doesn't mean there aren't tens of thousands of mineral rich asteroids in our solar system.
It isn't worth it
YET
[QUOTE=NoDachi;43528042]No it isn't sensationalized.
If you idiots can't follow a link and read the rest of the article its not mine, or the BBC's fault.[/QUOTE]
It is completely sensationalized when mistakes and problems with the study he spoke about drastically changes everything.
[QUOTE=Daniel Smith;43527978]I would like to imagine finding fossil fuels on an asteroid, scientists everywhere would be so confused.[/QUOTE]
Not really, you can get natural complex hydrocarbons.. it would however be a milestone if they found it everywhere, and not to be a localized phenomenon.
[quote]We have only discovered 1% of the asteroids in the Solar System - and we are discovering them at a larger and larger rate. We discover two or three asteroids a day. If we get from 1% to 10%, then the 650,000 asteroids we have discovered jumps to 6.5 million.[/quote]
I agree with the study seeming really questionably, but this statement bothers me. In order for mining to be profitable, there has to be enough of whatever to bring back. In other words, bigger rocks. Bigger rocks are also easier to detect, so these percentages are probably massively skewed in terms of applicable use.
Well then lets start getting some damn h3 out of these giant ass gas giants so I can be Mass Effect.
They're just saying this so they can take the asteroid diamonds for themselves. I'm on to their schemes, them damn harvard scientists
[QUOTE=Gordy H.;43529737]Dr. Elvis sounds like he just wanted to rain on peoples parade.
He chose to use the costs of current space missions and the estimated costs of currently experimental space mining techniques to say that returning a profit in space mining would be difficult. This ignores the expectation that better technology will drastically reduce the costs of operating in space in the future.
As another Dr. pointed out, he also only addressed the mineral content of type-m asteroids - not the mineral content of type-c asteroids which are the ones we WANT to mine.
The only genuinely decent point Dr. Elvis makes is this:
That's true, the idea that every single asteroid out in space is a treasure trove is a silly one. But that doesn't mean there aren't tens of thousands of mineral rich asteroids in our solar system.[/QUOTE]
Soooo it's just gonna be like any other old Mining operation for valuable stuff.
Just in space?
Space mining will inevitably be the future of mining for certain resources. It's true that at the moment mining asteroids in space isn't worth it, but there are [URL="http://www.planetaryresources.com/mission/"]companies[/URL] out there that see the vital role and potential in space mining.
Well there is an asteroid of sorts in the galaxy that is pure diamond and thousands of kilometers wide, I think that would definetly be worth mining
I thought it was pretty obvious, until you invent some sci-fi propulsion from Star Trek or Star Wars mining asteroids is insanely expensive. The only noteworthy material I can think of is iridium and everything else you can just mine on Earth.
[QUOTE=Native Hunter;43530094]Well there is an asteroid of sorts in the galaxy that is pure diamond and thousands of kilometers wide, I think that would definetly be worth mining[/QUOTE]
Diamond prices are extremely, artificially inflated and really aren't worth the thousands people pay. Odds are mining a giant diamond asteroid won't change that.
[editline]14th January 2014[/editline]
[QUOTE=Saxon;43530097]I thought it was pretty obvious, until you invent some sci-fi propulsion from Star Trek or Star Wars mining asteroids is insanely expensive. The only noteworthy material I can think of is iridium and everything else you can just mine on Earth.[/QUOTE]
Mining on earth causes a lot of environmental damage a lot of the time, especially strip mining.
[QUOTE=NoDachi;43528042]No it isn't sensationalized.
If you idiots can't follow a link and read the rest of the article its not mine, or the BBC's fault.[/QUOTE]
*posts patently false headline*
"not my fault"
lmao whatever u say
When I think about asteroid mining, I tend to think about water and iron mining, not precious metals. You harvest water and iron in order to manufacture things and fuel vehicles in space. I figured precious metal mining would eventually arrive, but only after an orbital shipyard is produced. Delta v requirements change drastically at that point.
[QUOTE=GunFox;43530324]When I think about asteroid mining, I tend to think about water and iron mining, not precious metals. You harvest water and iron in order to manufacture things and fuel vehicles in space. I figured precious metal mining would eventually arrive, but only after an orbital shipyard is produced. Delta v requirements change drastically at that point.[/QUOTE]
Yeah, but it's a solution in search of a problem. Water and iron are resources needed for sustaining a space-based industry that won't exist without a compelling motive to develop in the first place. Right now there isn't much incentive to expand into space when it doesn't offer anything we can't get here more cheaply and with less room for catastrophic error, and without expansion there's no need for building and fueling in orbit.
[QUOTE=GunFox;43530324]When I think about asteroid mining, I tend to think about water and iron mining, not precious metals. You harvest water and iron in order to manufacture things and fuel vehicles in space. I figured precious metal mining would eventually arrive, but only after an orbital shipyard is produced. Delta v requirements change drastically at that point.[/QUOTE]
Aren't majority of them made of iron, anyway?
How about mining neutron stars for ultra-dense matter, there might be a use we could have for ultra-dense matter with no charge. There's plenty of materials in space that we could find uses for that we don't have on earth
[QUOTE=Xystus234;43530466]How about mining neutron stars for ultra-dense matter, there might be a use we could have for ultra-dense matter with no charge. There's plenty of materials in space that we could find uses for that we don't have on earth[/QUOTE]
I think that's overly optimistic when we're barely at a technological level to mine celestial bodies inside our own star system.
[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;43530482]I think that's overly optimistic when we're barely at a technological level to mine celestial bodies inside our own star system.[/QUOTE]
Titan is filled with Hydrocarbons. More oil than the earth like a bazillion times over.
When we run out of oil here and interplanetary travel becomes viable, don't tell me we aren't going over there to mine it.
[QUOTE=Xystus234;43530466]How about mining neutron stars for ultra-dense matter, there might be a use we could have for ultra-dense matter with no charge. There's plenty of materials in space that we could find uses for that we don't have on earth[/QUOTE]
[url=http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/3108744/images/1228359035553.png]I don't think we could pass to check to create anything out of it....[/url]
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