Asteroid use Forum: Spacesettlers
Thread: Asteroid use
# 348 bytntucker@... on Jan. 6, 2001, 10:13 p.m.
Member since 2021-10-03
Bill,
Cheers,
Tom
From: bill t
To: spacesettlers@egroups.com
Sent: Saturday, January 06, 2001 11:19 AM
Subject: [spacesettlers] Re: Asteroid use
I will ask the question you have been avoiding to answer and everyone
else has been arguing against.
Why Mars Orbit?
Why not a large station 2 million km from arth in a parralle orbit?
> >
> MW: I don't care where a particular asteroid comes
> from. I'm going to send an automated lightsail out
> there to grab it and tug it back to Mars orbit. And as
> I pointed out before, the transportation cost by
> lightsail we be insignificant compared to the total
> value of the asteroid. And then I'm going to place it
> inside of a large smelting furnace in Mars orbit and
> melt it. And there is little doubt that all of the
> asteroid will be of value-- even if its only for
> shielding or to supply mass for orbital tether
> transfer devices. And even an asteroid as small as
> 1000 tonnes in mass could potentially be worth a
> billion dollars for a lighsail transportation
> expenditure of a few million dollars at most.
>
> Marcel F. Williams
> 1/6/00
>
The answer can be expressed in one word: economics. Mars will be a tourist attraction as well as refueling point for journeys to the asteroid belt as well as the gas giants. The colonization of Mars is a natural next step that can and should be done in parallel with the emergence of space based colonies. This is not an either one or the other but rather both as needed.
Cheers,
Tom
From:
bill t
To:
spacesettlers@egroups.com
Sent:
Saturday, January 06, 2001 11:19 AM
Subject:
[spacesettlers] Re: Asteroid use
I will ask the question you have been avoiding to answer and everyone
else has been arguing against.
Why Mars Orbit?
Why not a large station 2 million km from arth in a parralle orbit?
> >
> MW: I don't care where a particular asteroid comes
> from. I'm going to send an automated lightsail out
> there to grab it and tug it back to Mars orbit. And as
> I pointed out before, the transportation cost by
> lightsail we be insignificant compared to the total
> value of the asteroid. And then I'm going to place it
> inside of a large smelting furnace in Mars orbit and
> melt it. And there is little doubt that all of the
> asteroid will be of value-- even if its only for
> shielding or to supply mass for orbital tether
> transfer devices. And even an asteroid as small as
1000 tonnes in mass could potentially be worth a