Posted on 04/24/2012 10:48:53 PM PDT by presidio9
Space mining has been a longtime staple of science-fiction films — and the companies are almost always the villains.
The transport ship in "Alien" was towing a load of ore when sinister, corporate overlords diverted it into the clutches of the galaxy's baddest monster. "Avatar" was all about saving the inhabitants of Pandora from thugs clawing their home planet to shreds in search of "unobtanium."
Nevertheless, a group of entrepreneurs received a hero's reception Tuesday in Seattle, when they unveiled a new company with the goal of extracting platinum, gold and other valuable resources from asteroids. Director James Cameron, who dreamed up the evil miners of "Avatar," is among the project's supporters.
Called Planetary Resources, the company is based in Bellevue. About two dozen engineers and scientists already are at work on compact space telescopes that would scan for promising targets, co-founder Eric Anderson said.
An audience of business people and space buffs at Seattle's Museum of Flight erupted into applause and hoots when Anderson vowed to launch the first probes within 24 months.
"This company is not about paper studies," he said. "It's about building real hardware, doing real things in space."
If all goes well, Anderson said the company could have its first asteroid target identified and ready for mining within a decade.
But it's a risky enterprise, said Microsoft billionaire Charles Simonyi, one of several tech tycoons bankrolling the work.
He and others at the news conference drew parallels between the birth of space mining and the early days of computing. The first computers were bulky and expensive, Simonyi said, and skeptics doubted individuals would ever want their own.
If space mining gets off the ground, Seattle could be its Silicon Valley,
(Excerpt) Read more at seattletimes.nwsource.com ...
We, the height challenged, stand at the feet of giants.
Despite what the treaty says, is there any dispute that the USA OWNS the Apollo Moon rock samples?
I think the treaty would bar the USA from CLAIMING the Moon in whole.
Asteroids are a different ball game. For example, if you capture your asteroid in a giant mylar bag (which would be a good idea to control pieces drifting off), then you OWN it. If you are productively mining it; you own it.
THAT is established space law regardless of what some UN bureaucrat says.
Maybe if the ra$$holes were not so closed minded an partisan, they would have supported New Gingrich after his Florida speech.
Obama and Romney lack vision, or worse, second term Obama’s dark vision is pushing him to destroy freedom and liberty.
Past due time to be our own giants...
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