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Speaking of Space
Apr. 24th, 2012 09:27 amSpeaking of space exploitation, which I mentioned in passing yesterday, I note today that a group of billionaires are planning to mine asteroids. Their company, Planetary Resources, has been quiet to the point near unto death, and plans to start very small, but it's an encouraging sign.
ETA: From the comment thread on this topic over at Simberg's Flying Circus, I find a proposal (PDF at link) to bring a small asteroid to Lunar orbit using a single Atlas V launch. The vehicle launched by the Atlas would have a 40 kW solar powered ionic engine and take a decade to move the rock in question. Also, this would be a very small asteroid (500 tons, 10 meters in diameter). Still, grabbing the right rock could make this jaunt possible, which is probably why step 1 in the reported plans is a detailed study of asteroids via small space telescopes.
ETA: From the comment thread on this topic over at Simberg's Flying Circus, I find a proposal (PDF at link) to bring a small asteroid to Lunar orbit using a single Atlas V launch. The vehicle launched by the Atlas would have a 40 kW solar powered ionic engine and take a decade to move the rock in question. Also, this would be a very small asteroid (500 tons, 10 meters in diameter). Still, grabbing the right rock could make this jaunt possible, which is probably why step 1 in the reported plans is a detailed study of asteroids via small space telescopes.
