Yeah. Those Kardashians, sorry I mean Cardassians, have been acting up again. Send it their way.

I definitely agree with your general assessment of the future. Back to the article, harvesting space rock water for drinking water (if possible) may be a much more urgent need than rocket fuel in the future.

Don't forget the water needed in manufacturing.

Ojibobo, I like the way you think.

I hardly think that harvesting space rocks for water to bring back to Earth is more efficient than desalinating seawater, king. Earth has all the water we could possibly want, and more, but it just takes some work to make it good to drink.

Desalinating the water could potentially, and has been known to cause detrimental side effects. The resulting salination of the body of water it was taken from is not a positive benefit.

However, when I mentioned the transport of water, while yes using it on earth would be beneficial I was referring to the transport and utilization of water on other astral bodies. Say we hollow out Phobos into an orbiting deep solar system station. Barring any new revelation of water found on Martian moons, shipping water to these isolated outposts is going to be key. Creating these 'water trade routes' will be the foundation of huge financial empires as where the water goes so does the life.

Let's say we fast forward half a millennia to a millennia from now. We've branched out to neighboring solar systems through...generational ships, or faster than light travel, or stasis/suspended animation, or whatever. We'll find some planetary systems will have not as much water as others but may have some other financial value such as large asteroid belts that can be mined for rare compounds. Shipping water to these locations is going to be a huge business.

Any time you can help build a massive infrastructure that will help the growth of an empire, you'll be fairly financially set. We're talking about trillions upon trillions of dollars worth for those who can set up these kinds of foundations for our interplanetary future.

It all sounds great.. but I'm still waiting on the flying cars they promised we'd all be driving around back in the early 80's. Call me cynical, but with all the technological advances we have had, we basically have better ways to entertain ourselves. Mining asteroids and hollowing out moons, much less people "living" in space or other planets doesn't seem realistic in the next 100 or more years.. but maybe I'm just old and out of touch.. and still waiting on my rocket car...

I don't think they're referring to the cost of bringing the water back down to earth. In space, hydrogen/water is worth a lot because it can be converted into rocket fuel. Given the cost to refuel rockets, add in the notion of having the ability to do it in space, you've got quite a mark up in price.

Sure the number may be inflated, but I don't think it's too outrageous either. There are so many resources orbiting our sun that we have yet to tap into and it's a surprise to me actually that given the greed of many corporations that they aren't scrambling to get their claws on them.
There are enough raw materials just in the asteroid belt alone to reasonably build a fleet of craft to mine the solar system. The moons of Mars and/or Jupiter could easily house shipyards or manufactoring forges.

Yes, I know these are pipedream ideas but they will happen eventually. Of that I have no doubt.

Roger that!

Water on Earth is pretty cheap. Water in orbit costs (at least $8500 (per lb) x 8.34(lbs) = ) $70,890 per gallon.

A gallon is .133681 cubic feet. A 150 foot diameter sphere contains 1,767,150 cubic feet or 13,219,156 gallons.

That volume of water, FOB orbit, would cost $112,362,826,430. That's slightly more than 112 billion dollars (assuming calculations are correct and assumptions on geometry aren't too far off).

So, if the asteroid is roughly 50% water, the figures quoted in the article (for water) are reasonable.

Well, despite the "greed" of corporations, this is an entirely untested and hugely theoretical enterprise that requires substantial knowledge of a wide variety of topics: engineering, astronomy, rocket science, biology, geology, and more esoteric and emerging fields, such as space geology and vaccuum bio. It's a hefty order for any mere corporation, and the risks are enormous for any investors.

So it doesn't surprise me at all that there's relatively little interest in space mining at this point, though I'm overjoyed that there are finally firms intent on pioneering this new field.

No way mankind is worthy of inhering the Earth or anything beyond it. Not with his propensity for violence

I think mankind is very worthy of moving out into the universe. Violence is part of nature. We are not the only species that engages in war. The biggest difference between us and most other species is we use tools to assist us in war. Animals kill for food and pleasure, just look at cats. Animals fight over territory just look at dogs. Animals fight over sex, just look at deer. So when you say we are a violent species, you aren't saying anything that isn't true about a great number of organisms. Life is war. Mankind should move to other worlds. It is the only way to ensure our survival and the survival of other species we live with daily.

It doesn't matter whether we're "worthy" of inheriting anything according to some arbitrary standard you made up on the spot, because it's out there and we're going to take it if we can. All of nature is just a mad dash to spread and consume, after all.

And while I'm also quite fond of Earth, I'd happily move to space if it became feasible within my lifetime for paper-pushers to be employed in stellar installations.

Dont get to excited. I fully expected, the day I saw the moon landing that I would see (and maybe be part of) the colonization of the moon. Then came the anti-science liberal agenda and now I expect never to see progress from Europe or N. America for at least 2 more lifetimes. As far as how the government will handle it ... they will regulate and tax it until it is no longer a viable option of course.

I fail to see how the liberal agenda blocks progress toward space expansion. While those on the far left may wish to preserve the lifeless rocks in space out of reflex, to save them from human exploitation (to the benefit of precisely no one), they are in a tiny minority and have little to no power to affect or block change.

Governments may regulate and tax it, and if so then so be it, but I was hoping for something more specific. Regulations imply a legal order. How do you think space property will be handled once it leaves low-Earth-orbit?

The biggest stumpling block to expansion into the solar system is not pyshical it is the "progressive" agenda ...

Don't meteors hit the moon all the time? That's what all those craters are from, right?

yes but that was a long time ago. since the moon has no atmosphere there is no erosion so the craters don't get worn down and filled in like here on earth.

Well, zip, the 'scientists' that came up with this work for a for-profit corporation with an eye towards profitably prospecting in space. And the $130 billion is based on the value of that water *already in space* versus the cost of getting it from earth to space ($20k per pound or more). No grants here, just raw capitalism and innovation.

Money is the driving force in every single activity the human species undertakes. In America the actual original settlers may not have been motivated by money, but the legal authorities would never have allowed it to happen without expectation of future returns.

What mineral deposits have we found on the moon?

I kind of imagine that the infrastructure for mining an asteroid with robots would be very, very different from that installed on an Earthbound mine, given lack of gravity, workers, and drainage. I don't know myself, but your objections don't seem insurmountable. Drills can grind rocks down to size and carry them to a space processing plant, and energy is an issue that space engineers have long experience in dealing with.

You're right that it might not turn a profit until Earth minerals start to run dry, but that's no reason not to try.

Exactly. I don't see how crushing and conveying would work in space. How well would a ball mill work in zero gravity?