On Sat, 02 Feb 2008 23:56:02 -0500, Phillip Thorne
<pethorne@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>On Sat, 2 Feb 2008, randy.mcdonald@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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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