Planetary Resources: the new asteroid mining project backed by James Cameron and Google executives – The Verge

Asteroid mining company Planetary Resources kills ‘space selfie’ project

2016-05-27T15:17:29-04:00

Space exploration company Planetary Resources is scuttling a Kickstarter-backed project that would let backers take "selfies" via space telescope, after getting funding for a separate project. Earlier this week, the company posted an update on the plan to launch one of its Arkyd telescopes into orbit as a publicly accessible resource, saying that public interest had failed to translate into outside investment. It has offered a full refund to the over 17,600 people who pledged a total of $1.5 million during the campaign.

"When we closed the campaign in June of 2013, we were confident that the tremendous enthusiasm from around the world would …

Read the full story at The Verge.

NASA teams up with Planetary Resources to launch asteroid-finding contest next year

2013-11-21T19:27:40-05:00

via www.nasa.gov

Asteroid mining startup Planetary Resources has partnered with NASA as part of the agency's mission to track rogue asteroids and find a candidate to pull into orbit around the moon. The company has been chosen as the first partner for NASA's Asteroid Grand Challenge, building on existing crowdsourcing efforts in order to find a better asteroid tracking algorithm. Starting early in 2014, NASA will begin running a contest based on information from the "Asteroid Zoo," a joint project by Planetary Resources, Zooniverse, and Chicago's Adler Planetarium. Asteroid Zoo, currently working towards a beta launch, is described as a game-like platform th …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Landing on asteroids could cause a zero-gravity avalanche

2013-07-05T15:45:02-04:00

Asteroid credit NASA JPL

Asteroids may not be as stable as scientists thought. A recent experiment shows that the force from a landing spacecraft might easily cause an avalanche or something resembling an extraterrestrial mudslide, as a result of shifts in the dust on the asteroid's granular surface.

The research is especially relevant after recent proposals for private-sector asteroid mining

Researchers compare the force chains to a stack of oranges at the supermarket. Some oranges bear weight while others come away easily, and a small shift in the stack can redistribute the force, moving the weight to different oranges and causing some to topple off the pile. Aste …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Aspirational asteroid miners promise ‘space selfies’ in $1 million Kickstarter campaign

2013-05-29T13:07:21-04:00

Arkyd Space Selfie

Two months after unveiling an ambitious asteroid mining plan, billionaire-backed startup Planetary Resources decided to launch a Kickstarter campaign. "We've had so many people writing us and saying 'Hey, can we be involved in finding those asteroids?'" said co-founder Peter Diamandis in a 2012 promotional video. The Arkyd space telescope series was intended to probe for near-earth asteroids, but almost from the beginning, Planetary Resources envisioned its first models being used in some way by the public, both to democratize space exploration and to provide publicity for the nascent project. Now, almost a full year later, that Kickstarter …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Asteroid mining company unveils lightweight telescope for deep space missions

2013-01-22T03:20:52-05:00

planetary resources arkyd screengrab

Planetary Resources this week unveiled a full-scale prototype of its Arkyd-100 - a space telescope and technology demonstrator that will be used on the company's first deep space missions. Backed by high-profile investors like James Cameron, Larry Page, and Eric Schmidt, the asteroid mining company last year announced plans to launch its first Arkyd spacecraft by 2014, in the hopes of harvesting precious metals and water from near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) within the decade.

Planetary Resources president and chief asteroid miner Chris Lewicki showed off the Arkyd-100 prototype in a video published Sunday, describing the 11 kilogram device as " …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Asteroid mining company Planetary Resources to launch first ‘Arkyd’ spaceship within 24 months

2012-04-24T14:19:24-04:00

via nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov

After releasing some details this morning, Planetary Resources is outlining its plan to open up deep space exploration by mining near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) for water and precious metals. As previously announced, the company will be building a series of craft first to prospect for potential resource-bearing asteroids, then to chart a course and bring them back to orbital depots or even to Earth. Planetary Resources co-founder Eric Anderson acknowledges that the company is in a very early stage, but he claims that the company will be launching its first spacecraft, dubbed the "Arkyd," within 24 months and hopes to identify the first asteroids …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Asteroid mining company Planetary Resources details plans for space resource hunt

2012-04-24T10:26:31-04:00

via nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov

Planetary Resources, the high-profile new company backed by Eric Schmidt, Larry Page, and James Cameron among others, announced earlier today that it would be prospecting for near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) containing precious metals in the Platinum group or other natural resources. Now, it's revealed more about how it plans to reach these NEAs and bring their contents back to Earth.

Essentially, the company hopes to jump between asteroids, extending the reach of its ships by targeting NEAs rich with water. "In addition to supporting life, water will also be separated into oxygen and hydrogen for breathable air and rocket propellant," co-founde …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Larry Page, Eric Schmidt, and James Cameron will begin space mining operations by 2022, details later today

2012-04-24T08:56:35-04:00

Asteroids

As promised, Bellevue, Washington-based Planetary Resources is letting everyone else in its plans. The project, backed by Google's Larry Page and Eric Schmidt, film director James Cameron, and Ross Perot Jr., will initially focus on the creation of low-cost robotic spacecraft designed for use in surveying missions. Ultimately, the company hopes that the technology it creates will be used for the extraction of precious metals from space - invaluable as the supply available on Earth dwindles.

Planetary Resources hopes to begin mining in space within the next 10 years

The firm plans to have its first craft in orbit around Earth within the next …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Mystery company backed by James Cameron and Google executives may be an asteroid mining project

2012-04-18T13:37:02-04:00

via nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov

MIT's Technology Review has just gotten news of a mysterious new project that claims it will "create a new industry and a new definition of 'natural resources.'" Space exploration company Planetary Resources will be unveiled in a conference call on Tuesday, April 24th. Besides the audacious announcement, which promises to "overlay two critical sectors - space exploration and natural resources - to add trillions of dollars to the global GDP," what makes this unique is its high-profile support group. The venture is backed by Google executives Larry Page and Eric Schmidt, director James Cameron, and politician Ross Perot's son, among others.

W …

Read the full story at The Verge.