Engineering News

I am of the opinion that NASA needs to put together a bid specification and let the contractors figure out what the final design needs to be to meet the spec, not unlike how the Military does things. Or any other business for that matter.

Secondly the US needs to withdraw from the UN space treaty and allow private ownership claims on heavenly bodies, at least those without atmospheres that might harbor life. Once a determination has been made as to whether there is life or not, then those bodies that do not harbor life can be freed up for exploitation too. This will jump start exploration and mineral exploitation of all the local heavenly bodies.

Good Answer. Mining the asteroids would allow expansion into the Solar System that would pose a greatly reduced strain on Earthly resources.

Regards Dragon

Dragon, something like 60% of all the nickel ever mined on the planet Earth came from a single astrobleme (ancient asteroid impact crater) near Sudbury Canada.

it is believed that most of the water on this planet came from cometary impacts.

Titan has lakes of Ethane and Methane. Europa has an entire surface of ocean under a solid ice cap. Ganymede has large amounts of water ice as well.

Mercury is probably chock a block full of heavier elements such as lead, Uranium, Platinum group elements, Bismuth and others.

The amount of mineral riches out there to be exploited makes the earth look like a piker.

But who would invest the time, money, and resources required to exploit them if they were not assured the legal mineral rights?

Very good point. Money does make the world go 'round. I am not a lawyer so I am not sure how to answer. I think however that there should be a way to catalogue the position and orbit of any asteroids exactly enough to "stake a claim" to it. And staking a claim to to the mineral wealth of the larger bodies merely requires an international body with the authority and resources to record and enforce such claims. Provided of course that there is no pre-existing claim. Like life on that world.

Just my opinion, Dragon

The problem is that the UN Space Treaty specifically forbids the private ownership or claim on any heavenly body. So you could spend billions setting up a strip mine on Ganymede making rocket fuel from the water ice and have someone else come along and set up operations in your own mine and you would not have a legal leg to stand on.

Nor could you legally sell the ore from your mine because you didn't own it to begin with, even if you DID spend the money and invest the time and sweat to make it.

gawddang communists!

Well, to be honest, treaties and agreements have been broken before. Just ask the Native Americans.

But, to do this legally one would only have to show the benefits of changing the treaty.

And lets face it: the U.N. hasn't really done that great a job even enforcing it's treaties here on Earth. (Saddam's refusal to allow inspectors, the recent problems with Somali pirates,which were handled by national navies not anything directly from the U.N. etc.) So unless they develop a space navy before anyone else, and can prove their willingness and ability to enforce any of their rules, I say they need not be taken seriously. They only have the authority that we as citizens allow them.

And as far as a legal leg to stand on, maybe not but if I went to the trouble of setting up a mine on an asteroid, I would most assuredly have a method for punching the ticket of a trespasser. Permanently.

And by the way: anyone living in the Belt would most likely buy the mine products, legal or not, out of self preservation. I wouldn't have to sell it to the U.N.

Sort of a rebirth of the pioneer spirit: many of them thumbed their nose at "authority" as well.

Just my opinion, Dragon