Valuable Rocks

In April 2012 Planetary Resources, Inc. (PRI) announced that they had plans to send robotic spacecraft out to search for suitable asteroids for mining. The expected launch of the first spacecraft, Leo Space Telescope, is expected to take place in early 2014.

Some controversy surrounding this advancement is the start-up cost, however with various backers from Google, Microsoft and so on, that worry is likely unfounded. Especially when one considers the amount of resources that can be derived from even a small percentage of the available asteroids between the Earth and the Moon alone. It's highly, highly, likely that the cost would be taken care of rather quickly. But, that brings about another issue some have. Will that devalue the market for those precious metals that we can mine from the asteroids?

PRI answers in their FAQ, "The global economy is truly enormous – global GDP is over US$70 trillion annually... in order for every person on Earth to reach the standard of living enjoyed by Americans today, global GDP would more than quadruple, reaching nearly $330 trillion annually."

They also mention that, historically speaking, an increase in ease of access to resources leads to an expansion of the associated industries as well as the ability to develop new technologies that use these resources.

Not only would asteroids provide minerals for our planet, though, PRI adds that they will also provide water to in-space destinations, to which there is no current supply available.

Once this takes off, no longer will the human race be forced to destroy their home for resources. Mining asteroids would be beneficial economically, environmentally, and scientifically.

One thing it could also mean is a greater movement of people into space. Which I wouldn't complain about one bit.