Andrea Sommariva

Rationale, Strategies, and Economics for Exploration and Mining of Asteroids

The development of off-world sources of critical minerals is creating an opportunity to transform space activity from a consumer of resources into sources of value. This article provides an overview of the rationale for and the feasibility of asteroid mining, based on current technology and information. It concludes that the mining of asteroids is a medium-term to long-term project (20 to 30 years) that requires a stepwise approach. An important step in the development of asteroid mining is the confirmation, through exploration, of the minerals’ abundance on the asteroids. A mission capturing and returning to lunar orbit a single 10-meter-diameter asteroid or a rock off the surface of a larger asteroid accomplishes this goal. This mission would also allow the testing of automated mining and processing equipment, reducing the risks of future large-scale asteroid mining operations. Suggested herein is that asteroids’ exploration be carried out through a partnership between space agencies and private space companies, whereby the two partners can achieve their strategic interests.

Motivations Behind Interstellar Exploration and Colonization

This article analyzes the main motivations behind manned interstellar exploration. There is a wide range of justifications for manned interstellar exploration. Some observers contend that the main reasons are the survival of the human species and the spreading of life in the universe. I argue that the survival of the human species is a very long-term threat and, as such, it is not the main driver for interstellar exploration within a reasonable time horizon. The discovery of habitable planets within 5 to 15 light years from Earth and the possibility that Earth will no longer define the limit of growth constitute stronger motivations. I argue that manned interstellar exploration will be achieved through the mobilization of both public and private resources, as in the past opening of new frontiers, with governments providing initial support in exploration and science, in advancing critical technologies, and in building space infrastructure. The private sector would then take the lead in creating new markets and in expanding humanity’s presence in space.

A note on the real exchange rate, differential productivity growth and protectionism in gold standard germany, 1878–1913

note analyses the effects of differential productivity growth in the traded and non-traded goods sectors and of protectionism on the real exchange rate of Germany during the gold standard. Large deviations of the German real exchange rate occurred, despite the relatively open trading system and the high and increasing degree of commercial integration of Germany with the main gold standard countries. In Section II Balassas [1964] model, which explains long-run deviations of the exchange rate from purchasing power parity on the basis of differential productivity growth between the traded and the non-traded goods sector, has been modified to take into account the existence of tariffs. In Section III empirical tests of the model are presented. They show that both differential productivity growth and changes in the degree of protectionism were important in* explaining the behaviour of the real exchange rate. Two appendices are attached to the note. Appendix I complements the main analysis of the note by measuring the effect of changes in the degree of protectionism and in the real exchange rate on the German trade balance. Appendix II contains a description of the sources of the data used.

The Great Leap Out of the Cradle: The Human Exploration of Our Solar System

Moving human space exploration beyond the Moon is the next challenge. Mars, the most Earth-like planet in the solar system, is the next target. Table 4.1 summarises the main physical characteristics of the Earth and Mars.

Human Space Exploration in the “Deep Space Proving Grounds”

Freeman Dyson once said “there is nothing so great or so crazy that a technological society cannot be moved to do, provided that it is physically possible.” He is one of the few surviving giants among visionaries from the space race of the 1960s. In his book Disturbing the Universe, he presents heretical ideas, such as space colonisation and the exploitation of natural resources in space. He examines two scenarios. The first one explores the feasibility of a habitat around the Sun, which uses its energy to sustain life. Public money would finance this project. The second scenario analyses the activities of small groups of settlers, who use the resources of asteroids to support their operations. His preferences lie with the latter scenario:

The Ultimate Challenge: The Exploration and Colonisation of Extrasolar Planets

At the end of the twenty-first century, humanity will have explored out to our solar-system’s boundaries, beyond which many have speculated for centuries about what may exist there. Plato and Aristotle, who dominated the cosmology of the ancient Greeks and Romans, considered the universe to be composed of the five planets visible to the naked eye, plus Earth and the Moon. What lay beyond was left to metaphysical speculation. However, Democritus claimed that countless stars composed the Milky Way and that they appeared as points of light due to their vast distances from Earth. Lucretius thought the universe to be infinite and populated by an infinite number of stars. The Catholic Church adopted Aristotle’s mechanistic ideas (ipse dixit…), which dominated the following centuries.

Stepping Out of the Cradle: The Exploration of the Solar System from the 1950s to Today

Astronautics is the theory and practice of navigation beyond the Earth’s atmosphere. Isaac Newton established the mathematical basis of astronautics in his treatise The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy. They are embedded in his laws of motion and gravitation. The reactions in a spaceship’s engine produce enormous pressures. They cause the expulsion of gas and/or radiation at high speed in the direction opposite to travel. It is this reaction force that pushes forward the engine and the spaceship attached to it.

Motivations for Space Explorations and Colonization

This chapter will try to answer the question of what are the most important drivers leading to interstellar travel by humans within the next hundred years. Some observers claim that the main reasons behind space exploration are: (1) survival of the human species, (2) access to additional natural resources, and (3) the spreading of life in the universe.

Where to Go: The Search for Habitable Planets

Philosophers and scientists speculated for centuries about the existence of extra solar systems. This speculation was not very common among ancient Greek scientists. Given the scale of the universe generally accepted at their time, the existence of extra solar systems gathered very little support. According to Aristotle and Plato, the universe was a finite sphere. Its ultimate limit was the “primum mobile”, whose diurnal rotation was conferred upon it by a transcendental God, not part of the universe, a motionless prime mover and first cause.

Financing of Space Exploration and Colonization

Our scenario foresees an early phase of development of propulsion technologies with a 10 year period of manned mission definition studies, automated probe payload definition studies and development efforts on critical propulsion technology areas.