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from the hard-to-swing-a-pick-in-zero-G dept.
So, you want to be an asteroid miner?
So [Williams] started talking to Christopher Dreyer, a professor at the Colorado School of Mines' Center for Space Resources, a research and technology development center that's existed within the school for more than a decade.
It was good timing. Because this summer, Mines announced its intention to found the world's first graduate program in Space Resources—the science, technology, policy, and politics of prospecting, mining, and using those resources. The multidisciplinary program would offer Post-Baccalaureate certificates and Masters of Science degrees. Although it's still pending approval for a 2018 start date, the school is running its pilot course, taught by Dreyer, this semester.
The focus seems to be on space colonies mining what they need in place, more than bringing material back to Earth.
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Wednesday December 06 2017, @01:07AM
Why? Gravity well is a perfectly good metaphor. All I can guess is that you find the term unesthetic, but that's merely a matter of taste, not accuracy.
That said, I suspect that the first things mined in space will be gases of various kinds. That's already fairly simple, though you need a good sunshade an a lot of plastic film that won't degrade in a vacuum, at least when cold. Highly refined materials will be a late addition. OTOH, in space you don't need to be strong in multiple directions at once unless you are attached to something that's going to accelerate quickly, so much less pure construction materials would be fine...though I doubt that any of our current cement formulations would work. It'll probably have to be metalized plastic.
Oh, yes. The second thing mined will be water. We really need to work more on closed ecosystems before space habitats are practical except for really niche purposes.
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