Question - what's stopping Elon Musk from building a spaceship to mine an asteroid?

Silver is being used faster than it can be taken out of the ground. The price of silver is going to the moon shortly. Musk has already slowed down production of his cars. I bought silver bullion at $26. It now fluctuates between $72/$85 dollars an ounce. It has been as high as $120. .OZ before being shorted by banks and hedge funds trying to save their asses. Their failure is inevitable.
Nice job!!! always nice when assets make killer money
 
Looks like Elon has shelved his Mars ambitions, and for good reason. Even with today’s technology, a manned trip to Mars would essentially be a one-way mission, a near-certain death sentence. The logistical hurdles alone are staggering: launch windows occur only every 26 months, resupply or emergency rescue is virtually impossible, and sustaining life on the Martian surface presents severe physical challenges, from radiation exposure to near-zero atmospheric pressure, extreme cold, and the long-term effects of low gravity on the human body. Honestly, it’s hard to see how a safe round-trip could be feasible even in the next decade. Check this 8 minute video out for a more detailed assessment of the problems involved:

The Lunar astronauts had to deal with all the same things -- the only difference is length of time, and astronauts have put in long times on the International Space Station.
 
The problem is we have to get to a point where there's a self-sustaining human population in space -- but who wants to live in a can, and raise their children in a can? No one will do it for something as abstract as "racial survival" or even "scientific exploration" -- there have to be ways to make money, and they have to be ways that cannot be automated.
I'm not so sure about that. People have lined up to become test subjects for life in space. I don't remember if the tv show mission was to prep people for the Moon or Mars. But there are enough people out there who would sign up to live in a can so I'm not worried about finding people to populate
 
The Lunar astronauts had to deal with all the same things -- the only difference is length of time, and astronauts have put in long times on the International Space Station.
we need some major breakthroughs. I think it will happen, we just have to learn the math
 
we need some major breakthroughs. I think it will happen, we just have to learn the math
Well, we'll see now whether RW confidence in the creativity of private-sector competition is well-founded.

Of course, in the private sector, things ONLY get done if they are profitable.
 
But is there silver on the Moon, or in the asteroids? And would it repay the cost of mining and shipping?
Some materials will clearly need to be brought back to earth, where some materials will be used to create/expand the space station and to build new space ships. To make this feasible, we will need to create a space elevator. Once we have a working elevator this project becomes very profitable
 
Some materials will clearly need to be brought back to earth, where some materials will be used to create/expand the space station and to build new space ships. To make this feasible, we will need to create a space elevator. Once we have a working elevator this project becomes very profitable
Is anyone even working on that?
 
That’s a fun thought experiment, but we’re a long way from warp drives. Sure, gravity can bend light, and general relativity lets massive objects warp spacetime, but turning that into a “seconds-long trip to Mars” isn’t just a technology problem; it’s physics as we currently understand it. We’d need energy on a scale that makes the Sun look like a nightlight and materials that don’t exist. Until then, Mars is still a multi-month slog through radiation, microgravity, and life-support logistics, and the physical limitations of the human body. :)
Think as we get back to being serious about space that these problems will fall one by one
 
Think as we get back to being serious about space that these problems will fall one by one
There are only three real problems getting to Mars: Shielding the crew from cosmic rays for an unprecedented length of time (not a problem in the ISS because it's inside the Van Allen Belt, but Mars has no magnetic field, nor does interplanetary space); staying on board the ship for at least a year; and designing a ship that can carry enough fuel for a return trip.
Once again, Ben Bova provides a good fictional treatment. https://www.amazon.com/Mars-Ben-Bova/dp/055356241X
One touch I liked: The ship is spun for gravity -- and as it approaches Mars the spin gradually slows to 1/3g so everybody is used to Mars surface gravity.
 
There are only three real problems getting to Mars: Shielding the crew from cosmic rays for an unprecedented length of time (not a problem in the ISS because it's inside the Van Allen Belt, but Mars has no magnetic field, nor does interplanetary space); staying on board the ship for at least a year; and designing a ship that can carry enough fuel for a return trip.
Once again, Ben Bova provides a good fictional treatment. https://www.amazon.com/Mars-Ben-Bova/dp/055356241X
One touch I liked: The ship is spun for gravity -- and as it approaches Mars the spin gradually slows to 1/3g so everybody is used to Mars surface gravity.
200 lbs on Earth is 76 lbs on Mars. Astronauts on Mars for two years and after a months-long return to Earth would suffer detrimental harm the human body. In low gravity, bones don’t bear normal loads. The body says, “Guess we don’t need this much skeleton,” and starts reclaiming calcium. Astronauts on the ISS lose about 1–2% bone density per month, even with exercise. Over two years, that’s a serious loss, especially in hips, spine, and legs. Returning to Earth would mean fragile, degraded bones suddenly having to support full weight again. Standing up on Earth would feel like wearing a 200-pound backpack; walking without assistance would be difficult. We haven't even gotten into cardiovascular deconditioning, effects on the vestibular system, and galactic cosmic radiation exposure.
 
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Think as we get back to being serious about space that these problems will fall one by one
What makes you think we are going to 'get back to being serious about space'? We are more likely to decrease our investments in space than we are to increase them. I don't see NASA getting any major budget increases any time soon.

And at some point the billionaire boys are going to get bored of spending money on their space toys. I don't think moon missions will hold nearly as much appeal to Musk as his Mars fantasies. Once that reality sets in, and the numbers don't work out for Starship as a launch vehicle for LEO satellite launches I expect that investment will dry up pretty quickly.

The only ones who currently seem to have any feasible long term plans for space are the Chinese.
 
Here are all the reasons why we won't be going to Mars or returning from Mars:

Factually accurate, but marred by the glitchiness of all AI slop. The real Richard Feynman would never call the Saturn V rocket “ Saturn the Fifth”
 
America needs to get back into space. we must hold off China! we need a space elevator yesterday
 
Here are all the reasons why we won't be going to Mars or returning from Mars:


As usual, you’re confident while completely blinded by your lack of knowledge.


"In situ resource utilization.”

"You wouldn't need a backhoe to dig up this ice. You could use a shovel," said the paper's lead author, Sylvain Piqueux of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. "We're continuing to collect data on buried ice on Mars, zeroing in on the best places for astronauts to land."

Clue for you: H2O is raw material for rocket fuel.

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasas-treasure-map-for-water-ice-on-mars/


Water ice has also been identified on several asteroids. Musk has proposed capturing asteroids for harvesting raw materials. H2O is a raw material. ✅
 
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As usual, you’re confident while completely blinded by your lack of knowledge.


"In situ resource utilization.”

"You wouldn't need a backhoe to dig up this ice. You could use a shovel," said the paper's lead author, Sylvain Piqueux of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. "We're continuing to collect data on buried ice on Mars, zeroing in on the best places for astronauts to land."

Clue for you: H2O is raw material for rocket fuel.

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasas-treasure-map-for-water-ice-on-mars/


Water ice has also been identified on several asteroids. Musk has proposed capturing asteroids for harvesting raw materials. H2O is a raw material. ✅
Can you provide an example of converting water to rocket fuel at scale? Being able to make tiny amounts in theory is useless.
 
Can you provide an example of converting water to rocket fuel at scale? Being able to make tiny amounts in theory is useless.

Everything is in theory until it’s actually done.

Visionaries are those who see possibly. Engineers make the possible happen, first in theory, later in practice.

The issue here is the weight limits, thermodynamic efficiency, and how much fuel can be stored in a rocket.
Electrolysis is a know and reliable technology used to split hydrogen and oxygen from H2O. The energy required to do it can be provided by solar power. Do you really think this is an insurmountable challenge that will be ignored by those who are interested in space travel?

The article I posted was published by NASA. Be sure to send them a message so they can consider your myopic concerns.



Some people are actively doubting that there will ever be server farms in space. That doubt is moronic. Data servers in orbit already exist, they’re just on the prototype scale now.

Starlink already has over 9000 router satellites. Musk has already said he wants to build server farms in orbit.
 
As usual, you’re confident while completely blinded by your lack of knowledge.


"In situ resource utilization.”

"You wouldn't need a backhoe to dig up this ice. You could use a shovel," said the paper's lead author, Sylvain Piqueux of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. "We're continuing to collect data on buried ice on Mars, zeroing in on the best places for astronauts to land."

Clue for you: H2O is raw material for rocket fuel.

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasas-treasure-map-for-water-ice-on-mars/


Water ice has also been identified on several asteroids. Musk has proposed capturing asteroids for harvesting raw materials. H2O is a raw material. ✅
the moon has a ton of helium
 
Everything is in theory until it’s actually done.

Visionaries are those who see possibly. Engineers make the possible happen, first in theory, later in practice.

The issue here is the weight limits, thermodynamic efficiency, and how much fuel can be stored in a rocket.
Electrolysis is a know and reliable technology used to split hydrogen and oxygen from H2O. The energy required to do it can be provided by solar power. Do you really think this is an insurmountable challenge that will be ignored by those who are interested in space travel?

The article I posted was published by NASA. Be sure to send them a message so they can consider your myopic concerns.



Some people are actively doubting that there will ever be server farms in space. That doubt is moronic. Data servers in orbit already exist, they’re just on the prototype scale now.

Starlink already has over 9000 router satellites. Musk has already said he wants to build server farms in orbit.
A good proof-of-concept would be to build a solar-powered rocket fuel plant here in earth where it’s cheap, easy and safe, before staking the lives of hundreds of colonists on the technology.

It could be used to fuel SpaceX launches.
 
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