That’s why I want to see the asteroid miners out there getting to work. When an asteroid does pose a threat, they’ll likely get the contract to move it to a safer orbit.
On a side note, think of the possibilities of asteroid mining combined with the printing of large scale structures in space.
Great ideas.....all we need to do is find a source of
energy that is compact enough, robust enough and reliable
enough to allow such activities. To date we don’t have
that. In addition “3D printing” can make a number of
useful items, not everthing needed, especially those made
from hi strength, tempered metals but many. The trick of
course is that those printers need a source of material
to work with. Might as well haul the finished product
into space since the you’d have to haul the same weight in
material along and THEN print out what you want.
If...and that’s a BIG if, we can successfully find a way
to land on and mine asteroids the issue of raw material
will become much less a problem.
Using robotic means for most of the processing would be necessary, but crews would have to be rotated in and out to keep things operating.
The useful materials processed out could be “piled” for eventual delivery.
The tailings could be processed with some available gas (or water vapor) into mineral foam — lightweight, strong, and plentiful — and extruded into very large structures.
Titanium, which is probably somewhat plentiful, could be extruded (perhaps as a foam)into reentry vehicles, which would be equipped with basic, necessary methods of control (sent up from Earth, no doubt), loaded with the useful metals and such from the “piles”, and dead-sticked down to Edwards etc.
The bonus to this approach is, reentry vehicles — basically, space shuttles — rain down with the useful materials aboard, and are available thereafter as launch vehicles.