Chet The Dog

Posts Tagged ‘James Cameron’

Asteroid Mining

“The Google guys and James Cameron are going into asteroid mining?” Spence says.

“They’ve already formed a company,” Admin says. “Planetary Resources. This is a very long-term project, but so was – for example – the exploration of our own planet.”

“What about people who say all our efforts should be focused on earthbound problems?”

“Earth’s resources are finite. If we hope to go on for a long time, we’ll need resources from somewhere else. That’s the practical side. There’s also a spiritual side.”

“Spiritual?”

“I’m talking about the human spirit. Isn’t curiosity a big part of it?”

“I’ve never thought about that,” Spence says. “Sorry – just a joke. But how do we know there are minerals on the asteroids?”

“A lot of the heavy minerals on earth came from asteroid hits,” Admin says. “The planet’s own supply got sucked to the core back in the molten ball days. The asteroids could also be a source of water.”

“What about mining the moon? It’s closer.”

“It’s another possibility, certainly for water. But I don’t know about heavy minerals there. There’s a lot I don’t know about this – but I suspect there’s one Plunderer out there who’s an expert on space mining, the legal side of it for sure.”

Welcome Henry and Barney; two patient waiters.