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The idea of mining nearby asteroids for resources we could use on Earth is fast becoming a possibility — and the asteroid set to buzz Earth on on February 15th could be worth up to £125 billion. If we could catch it.
According to scientists at Deep Space Industries — one of the companies intent on mining asteroids — the passing rock, 2012 DA14, contains enough metals and propellants to make it worth a cool £125 billion. Micahel Cooney writes:
[A]ccording to DSI experts, if 2012 DA14 contains 5 per cent recoverable water, that alone — in space as rocket fuel — might be worth as much as £42 billion. If 10 per cent of its mass It could mass which could range from as little as 16,000 tonnes or as much as one million tonnes — is easily recovered iron, nickel and other metals, that could be worth — in space as building material — an additional £84 billion.
Sadly, current space mining technology isn’t up to catching 2012 DA14 just yet. But that won’t be the case for long and, with any luck, space miners should be bringing trillion-pound hauls back to Earth in the coming years. [Network World]
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pardon my lack of knowledge, but what do they mean by ” if 2012 DA14 contains 5 per cent recoverable water, that alone — in space as rocket fuel ”
How can the water be used as rocket fuel?
The two constituent elements of water are Hydrogen and Oxgyen which, in liquid form, also happen to be rocket fuel. Split the water into its elements using electricity, cool and compress it, and you have your fuel source.
It’s one of the reasons that the hunt for water on the Moon is so intense, because if it’s there, then the Moon becomes an ideal platform to start building craft and exploring the solar system. You don’t have to expensively ship rocket fuel up there for space craft, just the components to produce it from the water already present.
Thank you, i’ve always wondered
Not a problem
So the billions they believe they could make from both water and metals are, funnily enough, from agencies paying them because they don’t have to burn expensive rocket fuel getting it all to space to start with.
in the words of detective Mike Lowery once we get this asteroid
“What-what-what am I gonna do with these, these big-ass dead titties?”
hmm i can see them mining on the asteroid and doing something that makes it smash into earth lol
and this is how earth will be eliminated BY GREED
something will go wrong and alter a asteroids course in to earth at some point i bet ya lol
don’t worry, one will hit us naturally before we get the wherewithal to do that.