Is Mining Asteroids Really A Good Idea

James Cameron and Planetary Resources, Inc., announced this week that they were delving into the lucrative business of space mining. They claim that what we lack on Earth is plentiful in space–on rotating rocks of death called asteroids. They say it could add trillions of dollars to the global economy. This is great news! It’s important for mankind to expand into the universe and find new means to replace our depleted resources. There might be, however, a few minor details that were overlooked in this plan to make the rich even richer. Hopefully, Cameron and his team will address these important issues before heading into space.

Overlooked Potential Pitfalls To Asteroid Mining

1. Pick axes and space suits don’t mix.
2. We have not perfected the technology to get hillbillies into space.
3. If you dig too deep, you’ll fall through the other side.
4. This might spawn more movies starring Bruce Willis.
5. It’s easier to get 33 Peruvian miners out of a hole in Earth as opposed to a hole in an Asteroid.
6. Glass space helmets make for lousy hard hats.
7. Hostile aliens might discover a tasty new food source and come looking for more.
8. With them blowing up rocks in space, one of them is bound to hit my windshield. I just know it.

Mining In Space Conclusion

So as you can see, while the prospect of finding virtually unlimited resources in space is a good idea, it clearly needs to be thought out a little more. Maybe they can make an actual movie about it first, an epic motion picture like Avatar in full IMax 3-D to, you know, give it a dry run. Towards the end of the movie they might realize that blowing up one asteroid causes it to shift into the path of another, transforming the entire solar system into the equivalent of giant pool table, with asteroids ricocheting out of control.

Obviously, there are far greater implications than I have been able to come up with. Please feel free to comment and let us know if you have come up with any such dangerous and overlooked doomsday scenarios.  Read more about Cameron’s space mining quest here.