An impressive group of entrepreneurs and investors led by Peter Diamandis and Eric Anderson and including Google's Larry Page and Eric Schmidt, director James Cameron, Charles Simonyi, and Ross Perot Jr. will hold a press conference next week to announce a new extraterrestrial mining venture called Planetary Resources, Inc. The presser will be on April 24 at Seattle's Museum of Flight.
The Planetary Resources press release says that
the company will overlay two critical sectors – space exploration and natural resources – to add trillions of dollars to the global GDP. This innovative start-up will create a new industry and a new definition of ‘natural resources’.
If successful, the venture would extend the Earth's econosphere beyond geosynchronous orbit into cislunar, lunar, and deep space. Technology Review speculates that this endeavor
...sounds like asteroid mining. Because what else is there in space that we need here on earth? Certainly not a livable climate or a replacement for our dwindling supplies of oil.
Peter Diamandis gave a TED talk in 2005 on the desire for wealth being the next great motivation for space exploration. He specifically mentions asteroid mining and notes that "everything we hold of value on this planet — metal and minerals and real estate and energy" are available in "infinite quantities" in space.
My plan is to actually buy puts on the precious metal market, and then actually claim that I'm going to go out and get one. And that will fund the actual mission to go and get one.
Nickle-iron resources would certainly imply asteroids, but he also makes a slightly tongue in cheek reference to wanting to "make a beeline for the moon and grab some lunar real estate". So pace Tech Review's comment, that could mean helium-3 (fusion energy) or platinum group metals (hydrogen energy). Or eventually some combination of those.
Note however that the technical challenges of mining an asteroid are very high. The very low gravity conditions are riskier and require untested methods than similar kinds of proposed mining endeavors on the moon. We've been to the moon, it has gravity. We haven't been to an asteroid, and stuff floats around. At the ILRP Summit Meeting last year I had a conversation with someone from NASA Ames about a proposed concept to essentially put a big bag bubble over a small asteroid to allow processing its minerals without stuff flying off and becoming a hazard to the spacecraft. Mining the moon would seem much more feasible in the medium term, although an asteroid would largely avoid the international kerfluffle that is likely to surround a property/resource claim on the moon.
My first take is that asteroids are still NASA-level stuff, but A. I would love to be wrong or B. perhaps they're envisioning this as some sort of NASA-private partnership. We shall see. But what a fascinating and unexpected announcement. Given the caliber of the individuals involved in this venture, this is exciting stuff. Tickets are available, and I will be there at the streaming.
Media Alert (via Technology Review and Parabolic Arc) after the jump. Hat tip to Doug Messier at Parabolic Arc where I first heard of this item.
MEDIA ALERT
Join visionary Peter H. Diamandis, M.D.; leading commercial space entrepreneur Eric Anderson; former NASA Mars mission manager Chris Lewicki; and planetary scientist & veteran NASA astronaut Tom Jones, Ph.D. on Tuesday, April 24 at 10:30 a.m. PDT in Seattle, or via webcast, as they unveil a new space venture with a mission to help ensure humanity’s prosperity.
Supported by an impressive investor and advisor group, including Google’s Larry Page & Eric Schmidt, Ph.D.; film maker & explorer James Cameron; Chairman of Intentional Software Corporation and Microsoft’s former Chief Software Architect Charles Simonyi, Ph.D.; Founder of Sherpalo and Google Board of Directors founding member K. Ram Shriram; and Chairman of Hillwood and The Perot Group Ross Perot, Jr., the company will overlay two critical sectors – space exploration and natural resources – to add trillions of dollars to the global GDP. This innovative start-up will create a new industry and a new definition of ‘natural resources’.
The news conference will be held at the Museum of Flight in Seattle on Tuesday, April 24 at 10:30 a.m. PDT and available online via webcast.
WHEN:
Tuesday, April 24
10:30 a.m. PDTWHO:
- Charles Simonyi, Ph.D., Space Tourist, Planetary Resources, Inc. Investor
- Eric Anderson, Co-Founder & Co-Chairman, Planetary Resources, Inc.
- Peter H. Diamandis, M.D., Co-Founder & Co-Chairman, Planetary Resources, Inc.
- Chris Lewicki, President & Chief Engineer, Planetary Resources, Inc.
- Tom Jones, Ph.D., Planetary Scientist, Veteran NASA Astronaut & Planetary Resources, Inc. Advisor
WHERE:
Charles Simonyi Space Gallery at The Museum of Flight
9404 East Marginal Way South
Seattle, WA 98108
Very interesting post! Would this be perhaps a smart investment move in the the future?
Posted by: Sara | 19 April 2012 at 09:35