Planetary Resources

[sfjcody_]

Does it seem possible to anyone else that Planetary Resources could be aiming to find the 'crumbs' of the NEO population (<5m bodies) and position themselves to gather predicted meteorite falls?

I'm thinking of 2008 TC3 like situations.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_TC3

[Danderman]

I mentioned this in the thread about NASA asteroid missions, but PR could provide the technology for a NASA crew to extract volatiles from an asteroid as part of the first Exploration mission.

[JohnFornaro]

Anybody that hasn't read Abundance needs to, to understand what PR is doing & how they intend to do it.

Right now, I'm studying the LEND data, in an attempt to understand that kerfluffle.  Without looking at the link you provided, is the general thesis of "Abundance", that the universe is full of mineral wealth, if only we would go out there and collect it?

[go4mars]

Right now, I'm studying the LEND data, in an attempt to understand that kerfluffle.  Without looking at the link you provided, is the general thesis of "Abundance", that the universe is full of mineral wealth, if only we would go out there and collect it?

Sorta.  I'd say it's more about exponential technology applications.

[MikeAtkinson]

Right now, I'm studying the LEND data, in an attempt to understand that kerfluffle.  Without looking at the link you provided, is the general thesis of "Abundance", that the universe is full of mineral wealth, if only we would go out there and collect it?

Sorta.  I'd say it's more about exponential technology applications.

And about how education, cooperation, technophilanthropists and the creativity and drive of the poor help bring about abundance.

Neither space or asteroids are mentioned.

[JohnFornaro]

Right now, I'm studying the LEND data, in an attempt to understand that kerfluffle.  Without looking at the link you provided, is the general thesis of "Abundance", that the universe is full of mineral wealth, if only we would go out there and collect it?

Sorta.  I'd say it's more about exponential technology applications.

And about how education, cooperation, technophilanthropists and the creativity and drive of the poor help bring about abundance.

Neither space or asteroids are mentioned.

Thanks guys.  When I see a statement saying that I must read this or that, without giving a reason why I should read it, it has been my experience that not reading the material is as productive as reading the material.

IOW, the book "Abundance" is only tangentially pertinant to this thread.

[go4mars]

My 'tween the lines takeaway is that Diamandis believes strongly in various Moore's Laws.  In the case of his corporation (PR), data transfer rates in space, and extreme spatial and temporal accuracy will enable optical interferometry.  His last two news releases indirectly suggest the same ("what didn't get voted up", "exoplanet", "alien worlds". 

A very thought provoking and interesting book, even if not all directly related.  His philosophy is spelled out more generally, which I considered to have significant merit.  Worth a read if you are feeling an unseen hand holding back expansion into space. 

[JohnFornaro]

It is not a law.  It is Moore's Conjecture, as an informal observation of chip size tendencies at an early stage in their development.  Either that or it is Moore's Productivity Quota.  Meet it or be fired.

Worth a read if you are feeling an unseen hand holding back expansion into space.

I imagine it probably is a good read, and I'll probably get to it.  There's good reasons why mankind should be kept on planet until it has demonstrated a different approach to peace and harmony and the preservation of life, but this conjecture is OT.

[marsavian]

Planetary Resources Inc., an asteroid-mining venture backed by Google Inc. (GOOG) executives, said it added more billionaire investors and is nearing a partnership agreement with a “top-10” mining company.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-08-06/google-backed-asteroid-mining-venture-adds-billionaire-investors.html

[JohnFornaro]

Planetary Resources Inc., an asteroid-mining venture backed by Google Inc. (GOOG) executives, said it added more billionaire investors and is nearing a partnership agreement with a “top-10” mining company.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-08-06/google-backed-asteroid-mining-venture-adds-billionaire-investors.html

I gotta say, it sure would have been nice to have grown up to be a billionaire.  If only I had listened to my mother's advice...

1) "We can identify the minerals on the asteroids from orbital surveying, but it becomes a question of whether it’s still going to be cheaper to extract the very small amount that’s on earth compared to the cost of extraction on an asteroid."

2) While Planetary Resources has "enough funding for several years of operations" including its initial prospecting missions, the Seattle-based company would consider an initial public offering for future financing needs, Anderson said.

1) Clearly, today, it's cheaper to mine minerals in Afghanistan, particularly "small amounts".  It's tricky for me to parse out the larger meaning of this statement, because of this phrase "small amounts".  What do they mean by "large amounts"?  O'Neill cylinders? Or changing the domestic beverage industry by making platinum cans the vending can of choice?  There doesn't seem to be a pressing need for PGM's to supply such a humble task.  So consider catalytic converters.

Technically, we have enough Pt for everybody to have a car.  Yes, it's pricey, and countries are hoarding it; a sudden drop in prices would make cars more affordable.  Set aside the moral issue of a car or two for every man, woman, and child on the planet, and consider the pragmatics of widespread PGM availability.  Say they're successful at bringing home the Pt.  Where's the money in it?  Even at these quantities?  What else could be done?

Return to the gold standard?  PRI will not be giving the stuff away, and there would be the mass issue of returning a "large amount" of mass to Earth's surface. Some pundits would claim that storing the stuff in lunar vaults would be sufficient, but that would only be sufficient for those few people well versed in "off shore planet accounts".  Most ten-aires, hundred-aires, and thousand-aires would prefer gold in their hands.  Don't even start with those pundits who don't believe in the monetary value of gold.  Pragmatically speaking, there's not going to be a change in the world's gold reserves if PRI should be successful.

Iron or copper back to Earth?  To quote Wayne and Garth: "No way."  To use in space?  "Way."  But not a straighforward way, and a way which would be dependent on a new economy out there.

Propellant?  Absolutely, in priciple.  But only if there's a new economy to use it.  Robotic exploration doesn't need "large amounts" of propellant.  The only reason there could be a need for a lot of propellant, is, well, a new human economy.

2) Speaking as a thousand-aire, I've made plenty of risky investments that haven't panned out.  Maybe Mom was right.  I shouldn't have risked my money.  These guys aren't risking theirs, it would appear.  From my armchair, the math of their proposal, based on these two comments, doesn't add up.  I don't get it.

But I do get that they need to improve the food in their company's cafeteria:

"The way you eat a dinosaur is one bite at a time," Anderson said.

What are the vegan options?

[Danderman]

Planetary Resources Inc., an asteroid-mining venture backed by Google Inc. (GOOG) executives, said it added more billionaire investors and is nearing a partnership agreement with a “top-10” mining company.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-08-06/google-backed-asteroid-mining-venture-adds-billionaire-investors.html

With the caveat that this "news" is about new hidden investors and "discussions" with a mining company, it would be significant if true. Especially the part about the mining company.

[bguillot]

Maybe this is already well known, but I've only heard about the "billionaire investors" and not much about the regular employees at Planetary Resources.  I attended the Seattle Museum of Flight's Curiosity landing party on Sunday night.  Many employees from Planetary Resources gave presentations, and I was happily surprised to see that many of their engineers worked on the MER and Curiousity teams--either in building or testing of hardware.  Their employees certainly have the right stuff.

Regards,
B.J. Guillot

[QuantumG]

Spacevidcast had Chris Lewicki on the show this week to answer the question of how you get asteroid materials back to Earth without killing us all.

[go4mars]

My 2cents: None of the top ten mining companies would consider doing this for an unproven market like space volatiles.  To draw any of them in, the primary target is metal sales on Earth...  Unless they are just providing a paid service to the compiled billionaires.  Analogous to the Chinese doing deals with local oil sands operators which have the expertise/tools/people and can't say no to way too much money. 

[JohnFornaro]

Spacevidcast had Chris Lewicki on the show this week to answer the question of how you get asteroid materials back to Earth without killing us all.

Interesting video, and good to get a visual on Mr. Lewicki.  5:44-ish  "we'll bring back the materials a little bit at a time..."

And the commentators agree that this is the answer to this question "from a social media perspective".  These guys "so totally know" what they're doing...

You can't seriously assert that Mr. Lewicki has answered that question, can you?

That show, based on the snippet of the episode that I watched, is not all that authoritative.  I mean, they go on to state that the problem with HSF is that we don't live long enough:

See screen capture below:

[QuantumG]

It's a viewer question genius.

[spectre9]

lol John.

They just need stuff to drive the discussion.

I'm not really interested in waiting until people live forever to see space exploration happen myself.

Lewicki dodged the question about bringing resources back and eventually just said we'll down mass the same way humans are brought back to Earth.

[JohnFornaro]

It's a viewer question...

A viewer asked:  "How are you going to bring stuff back?" 

Mr. Lewicki's answer: "A little bit at a time."

From a "social media perspective", the question was answered.

Genius.

[Danderman]

NASA Request for Information for a Mission of Opportunity to Aid in the Detection of Very-Near Earth Asteroids

http://spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=41702

The NASA Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate (HEOMD) and Science Mission Directorate (SMD), through the Joint Robotic Precursor Activity (JRPA) office, are interested in instrument concepts for a mission of opportunity to be hosted on a US Government or commercial spacecraft in geosynchronous orbit that will be capable of detecting and tracking asteroids in orbits very similar to Earth's, including Earth-trojan asteroids. "Very-Near Earth asteroids" are envisioned as a set of asteroids to be discovered, in an orbit very similar to Earth's, that offer low delta-V solutions for human exploration missions.

[go4mars]

Peter Diamandis talks after Zubrin finishes up.