Yahoo Y Tech - The asteroid mining industry is hiring, needs YOU!

This is kooky..and kind of cool.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/technology-blog/asteroid-mining-industry-hiring-needs-175928948.html

The asteroid mining industry is hiring, needs YOU!

By Tecca | Today in Tech – 22 hrs ago

Tired of that mundane desk job? Want a more exciting internship experience than ferrying around coffee at a downtown law firm? Then we may have just the thing: Out-of-this-world asteroid-mining startup Planetary Resources is seeking college juniors and seniors eager to blast off into a twenty-second century career (on a temporary, six-month basis).

Planetary Resources is a bizarre new future-tech startup launched by famed Titanic director James Cameron and Google co-founder Larry Page. The organization believes there are billions

of dollars to be made harvesting the raw materials found in near-Earth asteroids.

Reads the advertisement: "Planetary Resources, Inc (PRI), The Asteroid Mining Company, is seeking qualified and enthusiastic candidates for paid cooperative education positions to assist in the development of new systems and technologies for the commercial robotic exploration of near Earth asteroids in our Bellevue, WA location. Applicants should have an interest in space systems design and application and should expect a hands-on, intense and dynamic work environment."

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I've gotta wonder how cost efficient that is. What is the cost of a ton of space ore versus a ton of earth ore and what is the return on each ton? I guess they don't know yet, but I'd wager it would be very expensive to obtain the materials from space.

"Hey, what'd you do at work today?"

"Meh, not much. Blasted into space, roped an asteroid, and strip mined it."

Where this would be most interesting is if the materials are going to be used in space for something. The cost of bringing significant quantities back to the Earth's surface will be high.

I've gotta wonder how cost efficient that is. What is the cost of a ton of space ore versus a ton of earth ore and what is the return on each ton? I guess they don't know yet, but I'd wager it would be very expensive to obtain the materials from space.

The cost in a ton of space ore is in reaching orbit. It's cheap to take something already in orbit and drop it to the surface... But I suspect the real "profitable" end of this business isn't in taking stuff from space to earth as the advertisement implies. I mean you go all the way to an asteroid what if all you find is dirt. I suspect the real money to be made is in water. water for oxygen, water for fuel (H), water for drinking.

And I suspect your customer would be the international space station as well as any future permanent space stations.