Last night, the US PBS television stations aired a new show from the series NOVA, “Asteroid — Doomsday or Payday.” It portrayed the two sides of asteroids: if a large asteroid collides with Earth, it could set off deadly blast waves, raging fires and colossal tidal waves. But on the other hand, some asteroids are loaded with billions of dollars’ worth of elements like iron, nickel, and platinum, and companies like Planetary Resources are trying to figure out how to take advantage of those elusive resources in space.
You can watch the entire episode below. As with previous shows, viewers in other countries might have difficulty watching the show.
For additional reading, here’s a great article by PBS’s NOVANext about why more isn’t being done about asteroid detection and deflection.
Here’s more info about the B612 Foundation that is featured in the show.
Planetary Resources has some info about why mining asteroids will fuel human expansion into the cosmos,(read here) — watch their video, below:
I caught that show late last night… it was really very good!
One of the topics discussed was how to mine asteroids. One of the biggest problems is how to ‘latch’ on to an asteroid so mining could occur. Without much in the way of gravity to hold a mining operation in place while drilling or excavating, how does one stay put? Well.. I thought about it and came up with this possible scenario.
How about using impact penetrators to embed a series of magnets or electromagnets into the body of the asteroid? Then, by generating an oppositely charged field(s) in the mining equipment, one could use electromagnetic attraction to sustain a foothold?
>We’re sorry, but this video is not available in your region due to right restrictions.
PBS Nova don’t give any options for Australians to watch their content.
What dvd’s of their shows that make it here , only appear in the special interest section of a few large DVD shops many months after they are released.
We can not buy direct from them
“At this time, we are able to ship within the United States and Canada only”
To sum up, they suck.
a blatant case of continentalism.
Maybe the Koch Foundation is boycotting Australians for their leaders’ behavior in Warsaw.
If that is the case, why did we get to see it in the Red States?