AsterAnts

Mike Combs is right for use of materials in space, in that any material from a low cost extraterrestrial source in space could save $ 10,000 per pound (or more) over the cost of lifting it from Earth's surface, providing it can be made into the desired products (form) in space. But the "machine tools" needed to put raw asteroidal material into usable forms will likely have significant mass. So using extraterrestrial materialscould significantly lower the cost of construction and operations in space if the tools are there, which would suggest a large operation, not on a few tons. Lowering the cost of some operation does not make a profit. It can help if there are other "sales", but what are the quantities to be sold? Maybe this was not what Ron Menich(and the others) had in mind. Sincerely, Jay Huebner