We have the technology. Why are we unwilling to try?
2006-07-05 07:04:44 · 13 answers · asked by Ozark 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
Because the cost of getting there and back would be more then the minerals obtained are worth
2006-07-05 07:08:06 · answer #1 · answered by BigD 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Lack of will on the part of industrialists for the most part. Lack of a forward looking mentality.
Rather than invest in new technologies, business leaders would rather maximize short term profits. This has been a trend for the last fifty years.
They seem to think the initial cost too high. And perhaps as long as we have to use rockets to come and go from space the equation will remain this way... however there are some great ideas out there for recovering materials from space without the need for shuttles or rocket type vehicles.
The space elevator proposed long ago by Arthur C. Clark is perhaps the most alluring, and I believe it lies well within technological feasibility.
Time and new space technology will hopefully change this mode of thinking.
2006-07-05 14:14:52 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
There are sometechnology hurdles to cross. There are complications involved with doing a mining operation in zero G.
Most of that can probably be dealt with using cycling gas suction techniques and balloon like enclosure. But imagine the practical
problems involved with breaking things apart in a place where doing so might change the objects orbit, where things are floating around in almost no gravity. If you break something off and it orbits a few
times around, it could end up hitting somebody like a bullet. There
are serious problems to solve, but we can probably solve them.
the real reson why we are not doing it is because republicans want to militarize space, not colonize it.
To the neocons, space is simply the best advantage to have over other people. "We" just want to have orbital weapons platforms
and rule the Earth. Not explore "our" own solar system with any
sincerity.
2006-07-05 18:06:02 · answer #3 · answered by kucitizenx 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Probably the energy cost of asteroid mining exceeds the value of the minerals you might find. I estimated once that bringing petroleum to Earth orbit from Titan would require more energy to break-for-capture at arrival than could be recovered by burning the cargo ship's load of petrol. And it wasn't just a little bit more: it was several times more, using the minimum energy transfer orbit from Saturn to Earth, just for the arrival delta-vee.
Even if Titan is covered in oil, none of it can be profitably used on Earth because the energy cost of bringing it here is higher than the oil would make up for. Of course, the oil could be used by people on Titan, or anywhere in Saturn's moon system. If there were anyone there, that is...
Asteroid minerals could be used by people living in the asteroid belt. They could make spaceships out there with those minerals, and maybe fuel it with hydrogen from Jupiter. (I don't really know whether scooping hydrogen out of Jupiter is feasible.) But minerals found in space will probably have their end-use in space, too. The transport costs are too high to bring them to Earth.
2006-07-05 16:08:08 · answer #4 · answered by David S 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
We should be pressing outward, but economics and politics say we will not. There are extensive resources there and on the other planets, and anybody that says there are not is uneducated about the universe or a fool with their head stuck in the sand. Anyone who does the research will find extensive (more extensive then here on earth) usable resources throughout our solar system. But the social economic reality is that our resources here on earth are not exhausted yet and as such there is no driving force to reach further into the solar system. The real question is: When earths resources become exhausted (or close to it) will we still be able to reach out to the resources available in the solar system.
2006-07-05 14:20:39 · answer #5 · answered by khamil111 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There's more natural resources worth mining in Florida than in the entire asteroid belt.
2006-07-05 14:08:51 · answer #6 · answered by bequalming 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
We don't have the technology! Just look at the issues with the space shuttle! Possible damage everytime they launch because of STYROFOAM! We are still in the dark ages of space exploration.
2006-07-05 15:29:07 · answer #7 · answered by Gordon K 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
We do not have the technology now, we only have the scientific knowledge. We and could probably develop the technology without making any scientific breakthroughs though.
2006-07-05 14:41:54 · answer #8 · answered by campbelp2002 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The same reason that I cant play in Angelina Jolie's underwear . I cant get there for under a zillion dollars
2006-07-05 14:39:23 · answer #9 · answered by bruce wayne 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't think anyone believes there's anything valuable in them. what would be the point?
2006-07-05 14:07:45 · answer #10 · answered by FirefoxFan 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋