[Rockhounds] Asteroid miners could use Earth’s atmosphere to catch asteroids

[Alan Silverstein]

(This was a week ago, but I'm catching up:)

> Asteroid miners could use Earths atmosphere to catch space rocks By
> Joshua Rapp, Science, Aug.  29, 2018
> http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/08/asteroid-miners-could-use-earth-s-atmosphere-catch-space-rocks

Interesting notion.  As the author himself observed, "what could go
wrong?"  But then he addressed this.  Certainly it's true that Earth's
lower atmosphere mostly protects us against small-enough rocks -- which
are still relatively large by human standards = "too heavy to lift"
(grin).

Digressing from the article, two thoughts it triggered which I think are
worth sharing with you all now:

1.  As someone observed long ago, any society capable of interplanetary
    flight (never mind interstellar) necessarily wields enormous
    destructive power too.  On purpose, or by accident, redirecting
    (even just "nudging") a sufficiently large asteroid/comet towards a
    planetary body can be catastrophic.  Or similarly, if you can
    accelerate a smaller body fast enough -- I think they talked about a
    Space Shuttle moving at 0.3 c -- same difference.

2.  My personal vision for Mars, which will never happen because it
    would require "seventh-generation" thinking, planning, and
    consistency, goes like this:  (a) we visit and explore the place
    thoroughly until we're done with that phase; (b) we clear out and
    leave the planet for perhaps hundreds of years; (c) we bombard it
    with redirected comets until it becomes "temporarily" more
    Earth-like (as in, for millions of years before losing its
    atmosphere again); and then (d) we move back to stay!

Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Alan Silverstein