The High Frontier for many of us is more than a dream, it is an aspiration, a goal, a problem in search of a solution that inspired a generation of space scientists and technologists. May it continue to be a source of inspiration for generations to come. The High Frontier: Human Colonies in Space by Gerard K. O'Neill PDF DOWNLOADS TORRENT GO Downloads The High Frontier: Human.
Author | John S. Lewis |
---|---|
Subject | Asteroid mining |
ISBN | 0-201-32819-4 |
Mining the Sky: Untold Riches from the Asteroids, Comets, and Planets, is a 1997 book by University of Arizona Planetary Sciences professor emeritus John S. Lewis that describes possible routes for accessing extraterrestrial resources, either for use on Earth or for enabling space colonization.[1] Each issue or proposal is evaluated for its effects on humanity, physics and economic feasibility based on planetary science. For instance, Chapter 5 ('Asteroids and Comets in our Backyard') exhaustively catalogs the types of near-Earth objects (asteroids and extinct comets whose orbits intersect Earth's), assessing both the harms likely from possible collisions with Earth (the subject of Prof. Lewis's previous book, Rain of Iron and Ice) on the one hand, and their potential for profitable exploitation on the other.[2]
To illustrate this potential, Lewis includes an order-of-magnitude estimate of the economic value of the smallest known metallic (M-type) near-Earth asteroid: 3554 Amun. With its diameter of 2 kilometers and assumed composition similar to typical iron-type meteorites, he calculated a mass of 3×1010 (30 billion) tons and a 1996 market value of $8 trillion for its iron and nickel alone, another $6 trillion for its cobalt, and $6 trillion more for its platinum-group metals.[1]:112(Of course these numerical values must not be taken too seriously, partly due to the large variations in commodity prices with time, and even more because of the great impact on market prices such huge quantities of materials—especially precious materials—would inevitably have. They merely serve to suggest that the economic benefits of obtaining such enormous resources would probably far exceed the costs involved in accessing them.)
In general, like previous space advocates such as Princeton's Gerard K. O'Neill, Lewis responds to the limits to growth on Earth with detailed plans to first ameliorate them by accessing space resources on Earth, followed by human space colonization of the entire Solar System. In this light, he asserts that 'Shortage of resources is not a fact; it is an illusion born of ignorance'.[1]:255 He claims that colonies built with the natural resources of the asteroid belt alone, including limitless space-based solar power, could eventually support a vast civilization of 'several tens of quadrillion (1016)s of people'.[1]:199 He closes the book with an assertion that this vast population could be a very good thing. 'Intelligent life, once liberated by the resources of space, is the greatest resource in the solar system ... the highest fulfillment of life is unbounded intelligence and compassion'[1]:256
See also[edit]
- The Millennial Project: Colonizing the Galaxy in Eight Easy Steps by space advocateMarshall Savage
- The Case for Mars: The Plan to Settle the Red Planet and Why We Must by space advocate Robert Zubrin
- The High Frontier: Human Colonies in Space by Gerard K. O'Neill
References[edit]
- ^ abcdeJohn S. Lewis (1997). Mining the Sky: Untold Riches from the Asteroids, Comets, and Planets. Perseus Publishing. ISBN0-201-32819-4.
- ^John S. Lewis (1996). Rain of Iron and Ice: The Very Real Threat of Comet and Asteroid Bombardment. ISBN0201489503.
External links[edit]
- Review of Mining the Sky on the National Space Society site.
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mining_the_Sky&oldid=914707237'
US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CB3SIAI
AU: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B00CB3SIAI
by Gerard O'Neill and Donald Davis, 342 pages, published Apr 9, 2013
AU: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B00CB3SIAI
by Gerard O'Neill and Donald Davis, 342 pages, published Apr 9, 2013
Amazon's Description:
In the early 1970s America had proved its leadership in Human Spaceflight but among the nation’s youth an anti-technology mindset was growing. Princeton Physicist and Professor Dr. Gerard K. O’Neill, inventor of the revolutionary Colliding-Beam Storage Ring technology that is now the basis of all high energy particle accelerators, asked his students if they could come up with a working Space Colony system to permanently and happily house tens of thousands of regular people. They dug into the challenge.
Soon his small band of students grew to scores of researchers both young and old, all united in the Big Dream of letting real people have a real choice in their futures.
In 1974, Dr. O’Neill put his three-pronged plan of Space Colonization, Space Solar Power and Large Scale Space Construction into easily accessible form with the release of the book The High Frontier. Fourteen years later, The Space Studies Institute, founded by O’Neill, re-released the original text, unchanged except for the doctor’s addition of the Appendix “A View from 1988.”
Now, The Space Studies Institute makes The High Frontier exclusively available electronically for Amazon Kindle owners.
This is one of the milestone and timeless classics of Space Habitation, Alternative Power and Human Potential, all made possible with technology we already have. A Must-Read.
eBook is free at time of posting. Please check price before buying.