Few asteroids are worth mining

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Few asteroids are worth mining, suggests Harvard study

A new study might contain some bad news for companies hoping to mine asteroids for their valuable ores.

In the last couple of years, start-ups - including one backed by Sir Richard Branson - have announced plans to extract resources from space rocks.

But calculations by Dr Martin Elvis suggest our cosmic neighbourhood might not be such a treasure trove after all.

The Harvard astrophysicist argues just 10 near-Earth asteroids might be suitable for commercial-scale mining.

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[+DieChecker]

Crud. That was a major point in actually sending people and robot-ships out to explore. That they would be pioneering the way for resource gathering.

[Grandpa Greenman]

I sent the eleven your old across the street their job application.

[Sundew]

As my late father might have said: "Too much sugar for a dime."

[Frank Merton]

Outer solar system asteroids are another matter and centuries if not further in the future, and they will be mined for water.

[paperdyer]

We can't let spacecraft re-enter the atmosphere with fuel still in them and we are going to be able to bring fuel chemicals through re-entry?????

[Frank Merton]

We can't let spacecraft re-enter the atmosphere with fuel still in them and we are going to be able to bring fuel chemicals through re-entry?????

Slight difference between uncontrolled crash and controlled landing.

[bassai26]

If they can why not?better find alternatives to lessen our consumption.

[Socio]

Crud. That was a major point in actually sending people and robot-ships out to explore. That they would be pioneering the way for resource gathering.

I was thinking the Moon would be the best place to start extraterrestrial resource gathering but as luck would have it some environmental groups are already against it, saying due to the moons gravity any mining would cause vast amounts of dust to float up and not settle back down to the ground polluting the moon and rendering it visually unpleasing from the Earth.