Mother Jones has little jones for free space mining: Oh where to go with this one? How about we start with one of the comments: “I can hardly wait to see us make the same ecological mistakes on the moon as we’ve made on this planet. Deepwater Horizon anyone?” That’s right folks. These vile men and their vile space exploits will not be satisfied until they have be-spoiled the oceans of the moon and killed all the moon fishies in search of the remains of dinosaurs that roamed the moon millions upon millions of years ago. Some one better call John Holdren and Planned Parenthood in on this one. Because there can be little doubt that the necessary solution to this problem will be destroying the human race by selectively aborting baby girls.
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"[Singing] We're whalers on the Moon, we carry a harpoon. But there ain't no whales so we tell tall tales and sing our whaling tune"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60BjkUtqxPE
Yeah, let's worry about the "ecology" of a vacuum.
Okay! Now that we got the mining issues legality out of the way, when can we start hunting aliens? signed, Earth Rubes with Guns
An eco-prayer:
"Oh, Mighty Yet Frail Gaia, please stop the extraction industry from going to the moon and spoiling Earth's entire supply of feta?"
Read the article folks -- it's mostly about some of the legal issues which might arise, and it makes some valid points -- including the notion that a mined asteroid might move out of orbit and become a hazard to Earth. The comments are full of kooks alright, but the article itself is pretty levelheaded.
PsychoDad, I usually agree with you, but I have to disagree that the article is levelheaded. (I think the asteroid orbit point is the only one that has any merit.) I think it only appears levelheaded at first glance. I think the writer either makes several assumptions or (more likely) wants us to view asteroid mining (and the prospects of interplanetary colonization) in one particular fashion.
"The risk of accidents or malfunctions in space mining is much higher than in ocean mining, von der Dunk notes. An asteroid might even change course because of mining efforts and threaten Earth, he warned. 'This has led me and others to repeatedly call for development of a proper regime at the international level to handle such operations, to properly balance the global public interests in terms of safety, security, ecological security, and the preservation of historic sites,' von der Dunk says."
I saw this and thought that this guy sounds like a typical leftist because he sports the old leftist canard that only some international body should be able to mine asteroids. Because no corporation or non-governmental body that the UN doesn't have its hooks in can't possibly do space mining (or anything for that) in an intelligent fashion. And historic sites? Whaat?
"The Outer Space Treaty states that 'neither the surface nor the subsurface of the Moon (or other celestial bodies in the solar system), nor any part thereof or natural resources in place, shall become property of any State, international intergovernmental or non-governmental organization, national organization or non- governmental entity or of any natural person.'"
This statement (combined with Dunk being quoted that the Outer Space Treaty "cannot be ignored") is the one of the most idiotic things I've heard.
The first reason is treaties have already been ignored many times, for many reason by various governments.
The second is that what if people relinquish their citizenships and leave the Earth? Are they still bound by those treaties? They aren't citizens of the countries that signed those treaties anymore.
The third reason is a matter of enforcement. What if those people who reliquished their citizenships and started colonies, governments and companies on other planets and proclaimed those planets theirs? And what if they've decided they don't like Earthers invading their territories and have the means (missiles, firearms, a variety of weapons of mass destruction) to hold those territories? The UN or some other bodies might not see them as legitimate because the treaty tells them so and because the UN doesn't recognize their sovereignty. But if they have the ability to wage war against those who try to enforce the Outer Space Treaty, does it really matter what they UN says?
So, I foresee that the legal issues will eventually morph into tactical ones.
The commenter thinks the moon has an ecology? What does that say about the ignorance of Mother Jones readers?
They aren't exactly ignorant. They are stoned, and have been for so long that it is inbred. You can fix ignorant. Stupid is forever!
LOL, everything you ever need to know!
Why are you even reading Mother Fu... uh Jones?