Re: Asteroid mining question

On Sat, 02 Feb 2008 23:56:02 -0500, Phillip Thorne
<pethorne@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On Sat, 2 Feb 2008, randy.mcdonald@xxxxxxxxx asked:
I've a question relating to asteroid mining.
[...] One thing does leave me puzzled: How did they plan to get the
mineral resources in these asteroids down to Earth? Or did they not
plan on that at all?

Well, if they were working from the 1970's Gerard K. O'Neill plan,
then off-Earth resources were meant for building (a) space colonies,
and colonies were for (b) solar power satellites. It was *energy*
shipped to Earth's surface, not matter.

In Jack Williamson's _Lifeburst_ (1984), metal is dropped to Earth's
surface in buckets on a large number of beanstalks. This is also used
to generate most of the world's electricity.

In one story in mid-90s _Analog_, the iron asteroid was carved into a
hollow, vacuum-filled sphere -- one that was *buoyant* in atmosphere
once it was deorbited. (The miners hung the balloon over the White
House, ready to rupture and drop it, if their demands weren't met.)

Anyone remember the title to that one?

In Peter F. Hamilton's _The Naked God_ (2000, third book in his
"Night's Dawn Trilogy,") we finally get to Earth, and learn that
asteroid metal is shaped into hollow lifting bodies and dropped into
the ocean, then towed to refineries on the shoreline.

I also recall someone suggested using the iron (70's data) to make
large foamed iron ballistic cones with the more valuable/finished
products in the center then put them on a ballistic drop into an
ocean and tow them to shore for unloading and cut the cone up for its
metal. Supposedly a cheap method, no guidance or controls on the cone
its self.

J Larson

.

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