What is the similarity between movies like star wars, space odyssey, Star trek, Armageddon, Avatar? All these Hollywood movies were based on science fiction and fantasy. They explored the interstellar space of universe to unravel the truth of other life-form and civilization. The film maker who made these movies has strong affinity towards the subject of outer space and they had a strong urge to unravel the mystery of unknown civilization, which they believed it exists. Recently Hollywood filmmaker James Cameron along with billionaire Larry Page and Eric Schmidt announced to launch a company called Planetary Resources, Inc to find the natural resources from asteroids. This seems straight out of the science fiction movies which we so used to.
- James Cameron to mine Asteroids for Natural Resources
At first it becomes very difficult to believe this could be true, because of the effort it will take to make it happen but then if we are talking of billionaire then possibility seems imminent. The company Planetary Resources, Inc will mine asteroids for precious metals like gold and platinum and bring it on here which can add trillions of dollars’ worth of materials to the Earth’s GDP. The company website mentions there are 1500 of asteroids, which could be easily accessed and mined for natural resources. When during a press conference question was raised regarding its feasibility, the company’s president and chief engineer Chris Lewicki said, “Science fiction is fiction right up until the point it’s science fact,”. The company has also roped in NASA for this project for technical support and is very upbeat for the whole mission.
There are nearly 9000 asteroids larger than 150 feet in diameter that orbits the earth scientist believe some of it could contain precious metals like gold and platinum making each resources filled asteroids worth billions of dollars. Some of the other metal that company hopes to find includes palladium, osmium, and iridium, they are highly valuable for medical uses. The company hopes within 18 to 24 months it will launch couple of telescopes to identify and search for valuable asteroids and within 5 to 7 years the project can become operational. It is estimated that for each launch the project will cost around $25 or $30 million.
Though this seems unprecedented challenge for the company but only time will tell how much this is a fact and how much this is a fiction.
