Which astroid might he be thinking of? I'd strongly suggest '433 Eros'. It is often guessed/theorised that Eros, though little, has more gold, silver and other minerals than exist on the whole of Earth - mined or still in the ground. Surely, it’s only a matter of time before someone lands on the astroid to have a look. Who knows, perhaps it will put back a few of the “peaks” a few years?
could be worth it for rarer metals, if these run low. Visting asteroids is a whole lot easier than landing on a planet, no big gravity well to get out of. Not quite sure of the economics of getting the stuff back though the earth's atmosphere. Eg. at the moment all capsules coming back burn up a heatshield. Even the shuttle which is meant to be reusable needs a lot of its heatshield replacing each time. Is it worth burning up a heatshield to get the stuff you want?
If we ever do go into space properly, I would expect that resources such as these would be mainly of benefit for those in space, rather than on earth.
Andy Hunt wrote:That's really spooky Quintus, believe it or not I did actually think that!!!
Considering the link between people of Easter island, their/our lack of resources and their/our unsustainable life style (deforestation etc) the connection is probably very apt!
The original text is in orange, my additions in red.
The Lessons of Easter Island
Without trees, cheap energy and so without canoes modern technology the islanders Earth dwellers were trapped in their remote home, unable to escape the consequences of their self-inflicted, environmental collapse. The social and cultural impact of deforestation collapse was equally important. The inability to erect any more statuesassume continued growth must have had a devastating effect on the belief systems and social organisation and called into question the foundations on which that complex society had been built. There were increasing conflicts over diminishing resources resulting in a state of almost permanent warfare. Slavery became common and as the amount of protein available fell the population turned to cannibalism.
