NASA finds rare metal asteroid worth more than global economy | Hacker News Reader

NASA finds rare metal asteroid worth more than global economy

mining.com

44 pointsbookofjoe42 comments

A massive cache of ore outside of Earth's gravity well seems like it could have far more value in space than its FMV sold here on Earth.

I wonder how many people are running the numbers on cost of hauling chunks back to the moon for lunar projects vs. Earth-supplied, should this discovery be confirmed in 2026.

Water ice is the most valuable resource in our solar system right now. And will be for a long time to come.

Ok, but how does that affect the value of metal in space for something like a lunar colony?

The moon already has plenty of water ice.

It’s unclear whether the moon has accessible water ice in any usable quantities. It’s likely shadowed polar ice is locked in rocky regolith.

Four days ago: NASA’s SOFIA Discovers Water on Sunlit Surface of Moon https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-s-sofia-discovers-wa...

Exactly. Rocks containing less than 0.004% water by weight aren’t ice or water or accessible water.

> Water ice is the most valuable resource in our solar system right now. And will be for a long time to come.

Water has no value except in some places devastated by war. The only valuable thing in this universe is oil.

wat? consider the value, in space, of frozen water ice -- as spacecraft propellant and as life-sustaining hydration for astronauts and as a prerequisite for farming...

Other than the fact that we die without it, Id say its right up there as a close second.

People are running and have run the numbers, just not people who are trying to convince other people that space mining will be profitable.

> If the mission could kindly bring the asteroid back to Earth, every person on the planet — all 7.8 billion of us — would get roughly $1.2 billion, based on current metal prices.

Are they intentionally messing with us with statements like this? That much supply of any metal (precious or otherwise) would cause the price to completely collapse. It would be worth basically nothing.

It would only create that much supply if you offered all of it up for sale immediately.

I find that figure a lot easier to visualize than whatever quadrillion, and for that purpose using face value is exactly what I would expect (attempting to correct for market realities would only confuse me).

It creates a teaching moment for people who believe it could actually happen.

In the unlikely scenario that we are able to mine it cheaply or at least cheaper than current methods, won’t the cost of those metals go way way down due to the abundant supply, making mining it worth even less?

Yes. One asteroid like this will make most other mining irrelevant for centuries.

Just need a few decades or more of dedication to actually capture it

Which is a good thing. Mining is terrible enough for the environment and being able to stop most if not all of it would be a great step forward.

Initially it will seem controversial to crash this into the planet earth for easy mining, but I'm sure someone can justify wiping out half a continent for it, it's money after all :)

Crash it into The Moon instead... What a spectacle that would be for Earthlings.

Speaking of which:

"The moon blew up without warning and for no apparent reason."

>That's the explosive beginning to a new novel called "Seveneves" by sci-fi writer Neal Stephenson. That event, the breakup of the moon into seven big pieces, kicks off 800 pages of love, death and heavy-duty engineering, as humankind races to save itself from a storm of fiery moon rock.

This is a fantastic book; prepare to abandon sleep.

First thing I thought of as well, one of the best books I've ever read, also pretty scientifically accurate.

> Crash it into The Moon instead... What a spectacle that would be for Earthlings.

Famous last words.

If there was ever a way to monetize advanced robotics with pretty much a guaranteed pay off, this is it.

Technically it's worth nothing without the means to mine it and utilize all of that metal.

Also, with that much metal, it won't exactly be rare anymore! Hard to imagine the price wouldn't drop 100X. (Loving the ridiculous hypothetical)

It's not always that simple, there may be potential uses that are uneconomical at current prices but kick in at 10x or even 2x reduction. The increased demand would prevent further collapse. See Jevons paradox[1] for a more general case of this in coal and road usage.

Injecting that amount of mineral wealth into the global economy would be pretty much an unalloyed good. So many things would become cheaper to build.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jevons_paradox

"unalloyed"

I see what you did there ;)

That never stopped De Beers.

That's not true. If you had the option to buy the rights to that asteroid for 100 dollars, I assume you would even though it might not minable for the next century.

The asteroid probably has some immense value right now if we could figure out ownership.

Sounds like it needs some FREEDOM!

Sounds like SpaceX should get on mining this asteroid as quickly as than can.

What's better to boost the company stock then saying that have $10,000,000,000,000,000,000 dollars worth of rare metal claimed.

(I understand that it's probably a net loss right now to do a mining operation.. but that doesn't mean it will stay that way in the next decade)

So about the only thing that could get that to an exploitable orbit might be a full-size medusa-style Orion pulse nuclear ship (the 2.5 million tons version).

Then... chop off parts, wrap in ablative aerogel, and parachute to the surface of Earth, maybe somewhere in the Sahara?

I wonder how much all of the oil on earth is worth. Could it even be calculated?

In Cowboy Beebop, People mostly live off earth because of constant collision by asteroids. They never explain why but maybe a corporation decided to mess with the celestial mechanics and humanity paid the price.

Isn't it because the moon exploded due to an accident with a gate?

Yes this was explained extensively in the episode 'Bohemian Rhapsody'.

The inventor of their gates found a flaw and reported it. In typical capitalistic fashion the higher ups decided the $ was worth the lives so they silenced/banished him.

NASA finds rare planet worth more than the global economy.

Also lots of iron and nickel.

Serious, I'm not sure this asteroid is worth a $1 if we want to talk manufacturing value.

What is the case? Obvious it's value is out of the gravity well. But do we want heaps of iron and nickel?

I think we want water do we not?

I would pay >$1 for the rights to mine this asteroid for the next 200 years. I would bet the value of this asteroid if sold in the market right now would be significant.

That's no moon.

Any metal fans can chime in?

Metallica > Megadeath.

I see what you did there, but man... that hurts.

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