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"Wet" Asteroids Could Supply Space Gas Stations

Posted by samzenpus on from the sop-it-up dept.

FleaPlus writes "Water ice was recently discovered on the large asteroid 24 Themis, and Space.com discusses proposals for producing fuel from asteroid ice. NASA and the President recently announced plans for robotic precursor missions to asteroids (and a human mission by 2025), as well as a funding boost for R&D to develop techniques like in-situ resource utilization. Since most of the mass of a beyond-Earth mission is fuel, refueling in orbit would be a huge mass- and cost-saver for space exploration (especially if fuel can be produced in space), but a large unknown is how to effectively extract water in an environment lacking gravity."

8 of 163 comments (clear)

  1. Another benefit by ciaohound · · Score: 2, Funny

    This could also provide good jobs for the inhabitants of these asteroids, serving Starbucks coffee and Cinnabons.

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    Oh, yeah, it's not easy to pad these out to 120 characters.
  2. Re:yes but... by biryokumaru · · Score: 2, Funny

    Maybe you should seriously consider leaving afghanistan and iraq, then rejuvenate your lousy economy, ain't it?

    Do you have to actively work to create sentences like this? Is there some kind of system of analysis and theory behind poor sentence construction that you employ? I can't imagine anyone would actually be able to write like that without concerted effort and thought put into it, and yet you trolls do it every day. Perhaps it is an under-appreciated art.

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    When you're afraid to download music illegally in your own home, then the terrorists have won!
  3. Great! Im almost done.. by Faw · · Score: 2, Funny

    ...training Ice Harvesting!!

  4. Not so hard by T+Murphy · · Score: 3, Funny

    a large unknown is how to effectively extract water in an environment lacking gravity

    Easy, bring the asteroid down to earth to extract the water. I don't see why they have to make it so complicated.

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    My webcomic
    1. Re:Not so hard by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      so instead of Armageddon in wich we try to destroy asteroids, we'll send up people/robots to make the asteroids land at the right spot?

      and how big must these asteroids be to make it worthwhile? tektonic plate shattering big?

      or will it be fuel negative? like the corn which requires almost as much diesel to harvest as it will produce?

      or will you beam the asteroid to it's place with yet undiscovered tractor beams? risking urban catastrophes?

      We'd simply put you under the landing site. The large "woosh" generated above your head would instantly slow the rock to 0 m/s.

  5. Re:Mining Asteroids like Eve Online by CubicleView · · Score: 2, Funny

    You must be fun at parties.

  6. Re:Mining Asteroids like Eve Online by pellik · · Score: 3, Funny

    Mining asteroids in EVE is one of the lowest paying professions one can engage in. Perhaps NASA would be better served to focus on killing the spaceships that they encounter around the asteroids for bounties.

  7. Have we learnt nothing? by Issarlk · · Score: 3, Funny

    After the mexican gulf and it's oil, let's polute space with giant water spills! Who the hell had that good idea at Nasa?