The New Space Age! Mining Asteroids.

With the news of late that President Obama has directed NASA to capture an asteroid and bring it into lunar orbit for mining and study, the 'net is all abuzz with asteroid talk. Of course, this is something that many in the sci-fi scene or the astronomy field in general have been discussing for some time. There are even a couple private companies who have started up and are gearing up for just such a project. One such company, Planetary Resources has plans and is in the process of gathering the resources to make such a mission a reality. They are not the only ones either.

The primary interest and motivation for many is the simple fact that exploring space and mining an asteroid is just.. cool. Beyond that however, the amount of information that can be gathered from a mission like this is just unprecedented. Sure we have gone to the moon and traveled around our blue planet. But to go beyond that and grab something as large as a US state and tow it back to lunar orbit... that is just amazing. Just thinking about it can often times give me goose bumps. Seriously!

The fact that the US government and NASA are starting to have an interest in something like this is exciting. However, I fear that the motivation behind our government is a little more shallow than exploration and the betterment of mankind. I think that money is the driving force behind the NASA mission. Why not? Have you heard what even a relatively small asteroid can be worth? Generally they contain magnesium, iron-nickel, platinum, gold, and a few other precious metals not to mention water ice. Lots and lots of ice. Many of these rocks are basically just big ice-balls. Even so a small asteroid can easily be worth 20 billion. Yes billion with a B and that is for a very small rock. Imagine one of the much bigger ones.

Point is, no matter what the cost to get it to the moon's orbit, whoever does it will be rewarded handsomely. They know it too and that is why they are trying to do it and also why the US government wants in. They do not want to be the last ones on the wagon when every private company with a spaceship is doing it and getting rich. Especially when we are currently paying another country to ferry our astronauts to the International Space Station. How embarrassing!

Anyway, the space age is nearing folks. Between the private space companies like SpaceX and the mining companies like Planetary Resources and Deep Space Industries we are nearly up to our necks in people with rockets. Sure, they all live and work in the deserts but still, there are more rockets per citizen now than there have ever been and that is exciting! So gear up for more news about all of this because the new space age is here!