An asteroid half the size of a football field
could be worth more
than the Super Bowl.
When it comes to precious metals, humans can
get a little insane.
I mean even the terminology gets a little
creepy.
Show a human a pretty reflective surface and
suddenly we're all
"My Precious!"
Despite its high profile, gold's not really
that precious a metal.
For that we need to look at the platinum group
metals like rhodium.
That's a much higher bidding price.
And platinum group metals can be found in
everything from catalytic converters to jewelry.
And while they're mega-rare here on Earth,
in other parts of the solar system it's a
different story.
There are some scientists who believe that
an asteroid only 150-feet wide could contain
up to 130 BILLION dollars worth of platinum
group metals.
And another 65 billion dollars in water.
And where there's precious metal in the ground,
you can bet there's going to be a mining operation
right behind.
And that's the case here with companies like
Planetary Resources and Deep Space Industries
who are putting together mission profiles
right now to get while the getting is good.
The outline offered by Planetary Resources
starts with a series of small, cheap space
telescopes called Arkyds, which will survey
the field of near-Earth asteroids.
Next, self propelled Arkyds fly out for a
closer look of the best candidates.
Once we've figured out which ones to mine,
volatiles like oxygen and water are the first
order of business.
Landers could set down and begin operations
on site or if the asteroid is small enough,
we could capture it and bring it back to orbit
the Earth or the Moon for easier access.
One of the reasons I'm really excited by the
prospect of asteroid mining is that it's more
than just making investors rich.
This could be the future of space exploration.
Think about it.
Asteroids could have massive amounts of ice
on them.
And ice, of course, is water.
And that's not just good for astronauts who
are a little thirsty.
Water contains the building blocks for rocket
fuel.
Asteroids might have nickel and iron as well,
which we have plenty of on Earth, but in space
we could use it to make space colonies or
new vehicles.
And then there's the Armageddon factor.
Planetary Resources' co-founded Peter Diamandis
says that there's the potential for a space
mining operation to move an asteroid out of
the path of an Earth collision.
Meaning, there is a small chance that a space
mining operation could save the planet.
And that's not the only public good it's doing.
In May 2013, Planetary Resources launched
a crowd funding campaign that opened up a
space telescope for educational purposes.
People who contribute can actually aim one
Arkyd any direction they like, perhaps even
uncovering an undiscovered object.
That's a pretty empowering idea that can get
a lot of people really interested in science.
Now, when it comes down to the core business
model of asteroid mining.
There's still a pretty big question mark.
No one's really sure how much wealth is actually
out there.
Back in the 90's, one estimate said that there
could be about 100 billion dollars, for every
single person on Earth!
Now when you're talking about numbers that
big, does the word "precious" really have
any meaning?
And I've got a question for all of you.
Do you think that asteroid mining is absolutely
crazy, or are these people really just ahead
of the curve?
Let us know what you think in the comments.
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