On Fri, Nov 29, 2002 at 02:57:44PM +0000, Richard Baker wrote: > At the moment, the key element is a solar electolysis factory. We put > one of those in Earth orbit first. Then we launch blocks of ice to it > from the Earth.
How much power could you get from the solar cells you would launch with the electrolysis factory? How long would it take with those cells to electrolyse enough fuel to transfer a 1 ton satellite to GSO? How much could you sell that fuel for, and how does that compare to the cost of building, launching, and deploying the factory? Including the cost of launching the ice? > Next we launch a second electrolysis factory with an ice-digger and > attach it to a transfer vehicle in orbit and shoot it off to land on > a near-Earth comet. The factory lands, digs out a big block of ice, > attaches it to the transfer vehicle, electrolyses some cryogen fuel > and shoots the block of ice back to Earth orbit where it docks with > the first electrolysis factory. This sounds tricky. What if the factory misses the comet or crashes on it? What if it fails to dig out the ice? What if the ice "shot back" misses or isn't caught properly? Can you quantify the risks? > Next, we design and build a platinum mine and use one of our transfer > vehicles to blast it off to a near-Earth asteroid. Do you have a detailed calculation of the total costs required to mine the platinum from the asteroids? Can it really be done cheaper than it could on earth or cheaper than you can sell it for? It seems that the capital costs for developing and deploying totally new mining equipment could be huge. But I don't know much about mining. Are current mining systems totally automated? I thought not, since you still hear about miners and mining accidents. The system you are describing would be more difficult than an automated earth mining system, so the question is, are there automated earth mining systems being used now that can form a cost model for your system? > Then we sit here manipulating the market for platinum group metals and > making ourselves perhaps a hundred billion dollars a year. (Detailed > calculations to follow.) Ummm, maybe you shouldn't say it like that. I seem to remember a couple brothers trying that with Ag and getting a bad rep (not to mention losing everything) > At this stage we buy the Middle-Eastern oilfields, because > hydrocarbons might come in useful. I guess this is a joke, but just in case it's not, I wouldn't mention this (it makes it sound like you are an egg-head boffin with no consideration for political and social issues involved). > I can repost some old Culture messages that outline why mining > asteroids and comets is better than mining the Moon, if you'd > like. I'll also be writing some material in the near future on why the > inelasticity of the launcher business means that only items with high > complexity and low mass should be brought up from the surface of the > Earth (and clearly propellants and structural elements are not in this > class). Do you have a list of the risks, like they put in the private placement documents for investors? The way you present it here, it sounds so easy that it tends to make me (and I guess many business people) quite skeptical. -- "Erik Reuter" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://www.erikreuter.net/ _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
