There's an asteroid out there worth $100,000 quadrillion. Why haven't we mined it?

[admin]

While asteroids are rich sources of precious and valuable materials, scientists still haven't fully committed to mining them.

There's an asteroid out there worth $100,000 quadrillion. Why haven't we mined it? : Read more

 

[Jossarian]

I think that with some clever astroengineering Psyche can be transported close to Earth and safely docked in one of Lagrangian points. In term of raw metal alone it could supply us for one million years if we assume current metal consumption.

How exactly we can transport Psyche towards Earth? We can mount several nuclear powered SpinLaunch systems on its surface. This kind of kinetic launch system can be then used to shot extracted metal towards Earth where it will be collected. I think this can be done in such way that each launch will slowdown and change Psyche orbit a little. This will allow the asteroid to be slowly transported towards one of Earth's Lagrange points, where it will be permanently docked and serve as seed of heavy industry space hub for many thousands years.

Can someone having some astronavigation skills could check if this is viable idea? Can we change Psyche orbit in such way? How much of its mass and with what velocity we need to launch to obtain desired effect?

 

[Syzygies]

So which is worse? The idea that anyone is sufficiently ignorant of economics to believe that one could actually yield $100,000 quadrillion by selling the minerals from Psyche? In which case they should be put into protective custody before some scammer fleeces them of their life savings. Or "duh, we're just playing here, don't be a spoil-sport!" like someone bragging how much their miles were worth on FlyerTalk, for a trip they never would have bought with cash. Worse, the headline writer is knowingly writing click-bait, completely aware that they're pulling out chunks.

Ask ChatGPT about the Hunt brothers and "Silver Thursday".