Gold in them thar rocks.

[Michael Morris]

After watching the History Channel and a Modern Marvels episode on Gold Mines, it occured to me that space may only really be explored in ernest if gold is found there.

In the asteroids. We know asteroids are largely rocks of iron ore, but what if one with significant gold was found. Then the exploration of space would begin for the most time honored reason of all - greed.

Comments?

 

[SpringPlum]

Unfortunately I agree that space exploration won't happen to the extent that we would like until people can financially profit from it. It may not be gold per se. But something. Another mineral, cheap land, drinkable water, a clean environment after we have used up all of our resources... I'm concerned that way down the road we're going to be the evil aliens who take over other worlds since we've destroyed out own.

 

[GlassJaw]

Then the exploration of space would begin for the most time honored reason of all - greed.

I've also heard some scientists speculate that true space exploration or development of some kind of advanced space travel technology won't happen until there is no more greed in the world, meaning that everyone on earth puts aside their differences and works towards one common goal. It's very Star Trek but when you think about it, it makes a lot of sense.

 

[thalmin]

After watching the History Channel and a Modern Marvels episode on Gold Mines, it occured to me that space may only really be explored in ernest if gold is found there.

In the asteroids. We know asteroids are largely rocks of iron ore, but what if one with significant gold was found. Then the exploration of space would begin for the most time honored reason of all - greed.

Comments?

Agreed, sorta. It won't be for gold. It will be for advertising!
(Didn't Heinlein do something on this?)

 

[Hand of Evil]

Oh, but for a drop of water. This is becoming a major concern and could become a driving force but yes only greed will advance our trek into space.

 

[Humanophile]

I've also heard some scientists speculate that true space exploration or development of some kind of advanced space travel technology won't happen until there is no more greed in the world, meaning that everyone on earth puts aside their differences and works towards one common goal. It's very Star Trek but when you think about it, it makes a lot of sense.

Which is about as likely as me learning to prepare a fireball out of my PHB.

The only thing I disagree with in the initial post is that nowadays, there are substances more valueable than gold. The problem with the "space leap" is that the farther away a resource load is, the more expensive it will be to get to. I'm sure at some point in the future we'll find a load of some substance that's worth the cost to get there, when combined with the advances in space travel science has sputtered towards since then. But given the lack of valueables we can find nearby, I wonder what sort of treasure trove we'd need to make up for the up-front costs.

 

[Turanil]

After watching the History Channel and a Modern Marvels episode on Gold Mines, it occured to me that space may only really be explored in ernest if gold is found there.

In the asteroids. We know asteroids are largely rocks of iron ore, but what if one with significant gold was found. Then the exploration of space would begin for the most time honored reason of all - greed.

Not gold, but platinum.

In 40 years or so there won't be anymore oil left on this planet. If this happens and we don't have another big source of energy, modern civilization is dead. Nuclear fusion is a potential energy source that could replace oil. However, this technology requires the use of platinum (I won't be able to tell you where), and to replace all oil consumption by nuclear fusion plants would require lots of platinum. Unfortunately Earth potentially hold only 10% of all the platinum that would be required. Hence, the answer could be to seek among asteroids to get that platinum.

(Note: I was told this on the Transhuman Space mailing list, so i won't be able to argue about the validity of this statement... Nonetheless, I found it was interesting to mention it in this thread).

 

[GlassJaw]

The problem with the "space leap" is that the farther away a resource load is, the more expensive it will be to get to. I'm sure at some point in the future we'll find a load of some substance that's worth the cost to get there, when combined with the advances in space travel science has sputtered towards since then. But given the lack of valueables we can find nearby, I wonder what sort of treasure trove we'd need to make up for the up-front costs.

I don't think serious space travel and exploration will ever happen until the motivation is for the sake of knowledge and not greed.

 

[BiggusGeekus]

Frankly, I think there are more mineral and metal resources in this planet than people dream of. Going out into space is a lot more work than, say, drilling in northern Ukraine/Canada.

Turanil, I don't mean any disrespect, but I'm banging my head against the wall trying to remember or figure out why platinum would be required for nuclear power in any way other than as a conductor.

Just my two cents.

 

[Morrus]

Commercial space development is, as I understand it, hindered by a subsidised NASA. NASA is pretty inefficient, but is able to undercut any commercial companies by offering to do things (launch a new coomunications satellite, etc.) at below cost price, relying on government subsidies to make up the difference. Commercial companies can't operate at a loss in the way that NASA can, and therefore can't get into the space race.

If that were to change, it would be economically viable for commercial companies to research and develop space technology.

There are even strict rules about ads and logos on spacecraft. A company couldn't brand its own craft or sell ad space on it to help cover costs. Competing with NASA is pretty much impossible as things stand.

The flip side of this is, of course, that no commercial company is going to do research for purely scientific motives, as NASA sometimes does. So, while advancement into space and use of resources beyond the earth would increase, the quest for pure scientific knowledge would be severely hampered. A commercial company doesn't care about the age of the universe, the cause of the Big Bang, or whether or not there's a black hole at the centre of the galaxy; it would care about minerals on asteroids, things like that.