Mining in space the next frontier

File photo: The giant asteroid Vesta more closely resembles a small planet or the moon than other asteroids, data returned by Nasa's Dawn spacecraft show.

File photo: The giant asteroid Vesta more closely resembles a small planet or the moon than other asteroids, data returned by Nasa's Dawn spacecraft show.

Published Apr 23, 2012

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London - The stuff of science fiction could soon become a reality with plans about to be unveiled about mining asteroids to guarantee the human race’s prosperity.

Details of the space mission are to be officially launched on Tuesday by start-up company Planetary Resources at a press conference at the Museum of Flight in Seattle, and will also be available to view online.

A team of scientists are to unveil the ambitious proposal – and the project has the backing of Hollywood film-maker and explorer James Cameron. Other investors include chiefs from internet giant Google and a former software architect for computer corporation Microsoft.

The company’s objectives are understood to be twofold: the mining of natural resources and space exploration, with the aim of selling the raw materials extracted from the asteroids and adding trillions of dollars to the global GDP.

Space entrepreneurs Peter Diamandis and Eric Anderson are just two of the names behind Planetary Resources.

In a press release, the company announced its intentions to create “a new industry in space and a new definition of natural resources”.

Nasa scientists say the high concentration of raw materials found in asteroids could supply Earth with vital stockpiles of natural resources.

According to the Huffington Post, Diamandis has made no secret of his desire to mine asteroids.

In an interview earlier this year with Forbes magazine, he said: “The earth is a crumb in a supermarket of resources.

“Now we finally have the technology to extract resources outside Earth for the benefit of humanity without having to rape and pillage our planet.” – Daily Mail

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