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wasoxygen · 3474 days ago · link · · parent · post: The Downhill Slide of NASA's "Rocket to Nowhere"
This could once have been said of cowry shells. It would be unfortunate if a nation made severe sacrifices to get at this spectacular source of material wealth, only to find itself with a huge supply of unwanted magnesium in the Information Age. If the global population stabilizes at around 12 billion humans, there may be adequate material resources at hand to meet most peoples' needs, perhaps only slightly out of the way. Energy might be a more critical resource, and thinking in a different kind of "solar" terms might be a better idea than burning lots of fuel to go rock hunting in space.The company or country who gets the head start on mining the asteroid belt will accrue more wealth than anyone or anything ever has before.