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Asteroids: How Love, Fear, and Greed Will Determine Our Future in Space
A unique, wide-ranging examination of asteroid exploration and our future in space
Human travel into space is an enormously expensive and unforgiving endeavor. So why go? In this accessible and authoritative book, astrophysicist Martin Elvis argues that the answer is asteroid exploration, for the strong motives of love, fear, and greed.
Elvis’s personal motivation is one of scientific love—asteroid investigations may teach us about the composition of the solar system and the origins of life. A more compelling reason may be fear—of a dinosaur killer–sized asteroid hitting our planet.
Finally, Elvis maintains, we should consider asteroids likely hold vast riches, such as large platinum deposits, and mining them could provide both a new industry and a funding source for bolder space exploration. Elvis explains how each motive can be satisfied, and how they help one another. From the origins of life to “space billiards” and space sports, Elvis looks at how asteroids may be used in the not-so-distant future.
Human travel into space is an enormously expensive and unforgiving endeavor. So why go? In this accessible and authoritative book, astrophysicist Martin Elvis argues that the answer is asteroid exploration, for the strong motives of love, fear, and greed.
Elvis’s personal motivation is one of scientific love—asteroid investigations may teach us about the composition of the solar system and the origins of life. A more compelling reason may be fear—of a dinosaur killer–sized asteroid hitting our planet.
Finally, Elvis maintains, we should consider asteroids likely hold vast riches, such as large platinum deposits, and mining them could provide both a new industry and a funding source for bolder space exploration. Elvis explains how each motive can be satisfied, and how they help one another. From the origins of life to “space billiards” and space sports, Elvis looks at how asteroids may be used in the not-so-distant future.
312 pages, Hardcover
Published June 8, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
August 10, 2024
Üldiselt pärinevad minu teadmised kosmose kohta kolmest allikast: Jaak Jaaniste ja Enn Saare "Täheatlasest", kommunistlikust ulmeutoopiast "Andromeeda udukogu" ja "Tähesõdade" sarjast. Vabanduseks võib öelda, et esimene neist on siiski täiesti teaduslik allikas ja teiseks toimus see kõik üheksakümnendate alguses, kui ma olin umbes 12. Ja kusjuures kõige sügavamat muljet avaldas mulle neist nimelt "Täheatlas", nii et kui ma polnuks juba tollal veendunud humanitaar, oleksin hakanud tahtma astronoomiks saada (ja selles, et ei hakanud, on kahtlemata süüdi ka mu tollane füüsikaõpetaja, kes ei olnud küll sugugi halb inimene, aga suutis tappa igasuguse huvi füüsika vastu neis, kes seda lennult haarata ei suutnud).
Teiselt poolt sain ma ka aru, et vähemalt selles osas, mis puudutab kosmost, on reaalsus fantaasiaga võrreldes ikka üsna igav. Selles osas, mis puudutab päriselt kosmosesse jõudmist, tegutseme endiselt tibatillukestes piirides ning raamatu autori optimismile vaatamata arvan ma, et nii jääb see veel väga pikaks ajaks. Ja parem ilmselt ongi.
Raamatu esimene pool, mis otseselt astronoomiat puudutas, oli väga huvitav lugemine, kosmosekapitalismi majanduslike ja õiguslike aspektide lahkamine pigem tüütuvõitu. Ent ehkki tegemist ei ole mingi alusetu ja arutu fantaasialennuga, vaid täiesti selge ja professionaalse teadusliku aruteluga, siis sellegipoolest - mind ei veennud. Minu arust praeguse tehnoloogiaga ei toimu mingit kosmose vallutamist, kuitahes palju see ka edasi ei areneks, see jääb aeglaseks, kohmakaks ja väga kalliks. Selleks, et päriselt kuhugi jõuda, peaks ilmnema mingi fundamentaalselt teistsugune võimalus, mida praegu ei paista.
Teiselt poolt sain ma ka aru, et vähemalt selles osas, mis puudutab kosmost, on reaalsus fantaasiaga võrreldes ikka üsna igav. Selles osas, mis puudutab päriselt kosmosesse jõudmist, tegutseme endiselt tibatillukestes piirides ning raamatu autori optimismile vaatamata arvan ma, et nii jääb see veel väga pikaks ajaks. Ja parem ilmselt ongi.
Raamatu esimene pool, mis otseselt astronoomiat puudutas, oli väga huvitav lugemine, kosmosekapitalismi majanduslike ja õiguslike aspektide lahkamine pigem tüütuvõitu. Ent ehkki tegemist ei ole mingi alusetu ja arutu fantaasialennuga, vaid täiesti selge ja professionaalse teadusliku aruteluga, siis sellegipoolest - mind ei veennud. Minu arust praeguse tehnoloogiaga ei toimu mingit kosmose vallutamist, kuitahes palju see ka edasi ei areneks, see jääb aeglaseks, kohmakaks ja väga kalliks. Selleks, et päriselt kuhugi jõuda, peaks ilmnema mingi fundamentaalselt teistsugune võimalus, mida praegu ei paista.
August 2, 2021
An excellent book that breaks down humanity's interaction with asteroids in a modular fashion: We can love asteroids (for their science value), we should fear asteroids (because they threaten the Earth), and we can be greedy about asteroids (because of their economic potential).
Elvis uses the lenses of love, fear, and greed in a stepwise approach, with chapters on planetary formation and the location and composition of asteroids; the planetary defense aspects of asteroids and how they have, presently do, and will continue to threaten humanity. Lastly, the prospects and elements of mining asteroids are discussed, include both technological and economic aspects of mining asteroids, and how mining asteroids will interact with many of the other activities we aspire to do in space and on celestial bodies.
In sum, this book is a thoroughly readable and professional approach with excellent sources and a clear and informative style. This is not a pie-in-the-sky book of wild dreams, it is a rigorous discussion that is professional, reliable, quotable, and citable.
Elvis uses the lenses of love, fear, and greed in a stepwise approach, with chapters on planetary formation and the location and composition of asteroids; the planetary defense aspects of asteroids and how they have, presently do, and will continue to threaten humanity. Lastly, the prospects and elements of mining asteroids are discussed, include both technological and economic aspects of mining asteroids, and how mining asteroids will interact with many of the other activities we aspire to do in space and on celestial bodies.
In sum, this book is a thoroughly readable and professional approach with excellent sources and a clear and informative style. This is not a pie-in-the-sky book of wild dreams, it is a rigorous discussion that is professional, reliable, quotable, and citable.
July 8, 2022
This is a well organized and compelling tomb on why go to space. The major focus is on the asteroid belt, but the whole solar system is our ultimate prize. It breaks the problem down using the courtroom trio of motivation, means, and opportunity.
The book's subtitle is about the three motivations:
- Love i.e. the desire for scientific study
- Fear i.e. the need to protect Earth from impactors
- Greed i.e. the potential for profit in asteroid mining
The book's subtitle is about the three motivations:
- Love i.e. the desire for scientific study
- Fear i.e. the need to protect Earth from impactors
- Greed i.e. the potential for profit in asteroid mining
January 21, 2022
Love, greed and fear.
Love connotes our love for Science and the quest to know about the origin of the Solar system and ultimately us. Asteroids are a reservoir of many primordial organic compounds and a particular class of asteroid called Metallic asteroids can help us to learn about the Core of our planet.
Greed connotes Capitalism and the exploitation of asteroids for profit. Asteroids contain water that can be extracted and can be used in various forms like converting it to liquefied Hydrogen or Liquefied Oxygen that can become rocket fuel.
Or carry water to the Space stations(as carrying 1 kg of water from the ground is way more expensive than carrying it from space).
Also, Precious metals like Platinum group Metals (PGMs) are the most expensive metals that our technologically-advanced Civilization depends on. These can be extracted from metal asteroids.
Fear connotes the threat from a massive asteroid wiping out humanity just like it did 65 million years back with the Dinosaurs.
So the premise of the book is this:
How greed, I.e capitalism can enable Love ( Our quest to search for profound questions about the origin of solar system and the Universe- Our love for Science) and assuage our fears (deflect an asteroid on a collision course with our Planet)
Types Asteroids:
Asteroids were formed during the early stages of the solar system. These were the planetismals(proto planets of the size of moon and smaller) that failed to form planets and ended up colliding with each other. Just like any other planets, some planetismals were big enough to start the radioactive process of melting the rock. During the process of cooling of this melt the silicate part of the rock crystallized but the heavier elements sank to the bottom of the core and cedrophiles (metals that love iron) also mixed with the iron. This is the same process in our Earth and all the heavy metals like platinum, gold and Paladium sank to the core. In some planetismals this heating of the core could not take place as they were too small to effectively heat up the core. So these non heated rocks are the most pristine rocks that can be found in the solar system and are known as Carbonacious Asteroids. The hallmark of these Carbonacious asteroids is round chondrites which were formed when various types of dust and small grains in the early Solar System accreted to form primitive rocks.
We think that water on Earth came from the asteroids and even life-endowing chemicals came from it. As of now we have discovered 12 amino acids and other Organic compounds in asteroids.
These carbonacious asteroids can tell us a lot about the early stage of solar system and can answer many of the deep science questions.
Asteroid mining might have a spill down effect over the development of better space infrastructures, better telescopes, better technology rockets that might widen our horizon and reduce the cost of exploration and other apparatuses that answer these scientific questions better. Capitalism will make it cheaper to develop better technologies to assuage our fear of rogue asteroids that might hit our planet. We will have access to better ways of detecting and deflecting Asteroids.
During the late heavy bombardment caused by the change in Orbits of Jupiter and Saturn which caused many planetismals to collide with each other. The Cyrstalized part of the asteroid became the stony asteroids, the exposed core became metal asteroids rich with the coveted heavy metals and in some bigger metal asteroids it is richer than the richest mines on Earth. This is why some eminent personalities say that the first Trillionaire will be from the space.
You might wonder that how come we can mine these heavy elements on the surface of the planet (Crust). The answer is late heavy veneer bombardment that took place in the early life of our planet that peppered the crust with heavy metals.
This book discusses about the practicality of these activities and how it might give rise to the space-based economy. Worth reading.
Love connotes our love for Science and the quest to know about the origin of the Solar system and ultimately us. Asteroids are a reservoir of many primordial organic compounds and a particular class of asteroid called Metallic asteroids can help us to learn about the Core of our planet.
Greed connotes Capitalism and the exploitation of asteroids for profit. Asteroids contain water that can be extracted and can be used in various forms like converting it to liquefied Hydrogen or Liquefied Oxygen that can become rocket fuel.
Or carry water to the Space stations(as carrying 1 kg of water from the ground is way more expensive than carrying it from space).
Also, Precious metals like Platinum group Metals (PGMs) are the most expensive metals that our technologically-advanced Civilization depends on. These can be extracted from metal asteroids.
Fear connotes the threat from a massive asteroid wiping out humanity just like it did 65 million years back with the Dinosaurs.
So the premise of the book is this:
How greed, I.e capitalism can enable Love ( Our quest to search for profound questions about the origin of solar system and the Universe- Our love for Science) and assuage our fears (deflect an asteroid on a collision course with our Planet)
Types Asteroids:
Asteroids were formed during the early stages of the solar system. These were the planetismals(proto planets of the size of moon and smaller) that failed to form planets and ended up colliding with each other. Just like any other planets, some planetismals were big enough to start the radioactive process of melting the rock. During the process of cooling of this melt the silicate part of the rock crystallized but the heavier elements sank to the bottom of the core and cedrophiles (metals that love iron) also mixed with the iron. This is the same process in our Earth and all the heavy metals like platinum, gold and Paladium sank to the core. In some planetismals this heating of the core could not take place as they were too small to effectively heat up the core. So these non heated rocks are the most pristine rocks that can be found in the solar system and are known as Carbonacious Asteroids. The hallmark of these Carbonacious asteroids is round chondrites which were formed when various types of dust and small grains in the early Solar System accreted to form primitive rocks.
We think that water on Earth came from the asteroids and even life-endowing chemicals came from it. As of now we have discovered 12 amino acids and other Organic compounds in asteroids.
These carbonacious asteroids can tell us a lot about the early stage of solar system and can answer many of the deep science questions.
Asteroid mining might have a spill down effect over the development of better space infrastructures, better telescopes, better technology rockets that might widen our horizon and reduce the cost of exploration and other apparatuses that answer these scientific questions better. Capitalism will make it cheaper to develop better technologies to assuage our fear of rogue asteroids that might hit our planet. We will have access to better ways of detecting and deflecting Asteroids.
During the late heavy bombardment caused by the change in Orbits of Jupiter and Saturn which caused many planetismals to collide with each other. The Cyrstalized part of the asteroid became the stony asteroids, the exposed core became metal asteroids rich with the coveted heavy metals and in some bigger metal asteroids it is richer than the richest mines on Earth. This is why some eminent personalities say that the first Trillionaire will be from the space.
You might wonder that how come we can mine these heavy elements on the surface of the planet (Crust). The answer is late heavy veneer bombardment that took place in the early life of our planet that peppered the crust with heavy metals.
This book discusses about the practicality of these activities and how it might give rise to the space-based economy. Worth reading.
June 18, 2021
What a fascinating and informative book. I love reading about space but, as much as there are so many volumes about astronauts, stars, planets or even black holes, I’d never seen one about asteroids. To be honest, I didn’t know that there was so much to learn about them, and thanks to Martin Elvis, I now know a little more. There is a lot of information about finance and economy, which went well above my head - but the author is good about transmitting the gist of these issues. He even makes the parts about science approachable and as easy to follow as possible without dumbing them down. His theories are simple but effective, and I really hope they prove to be right… they say Earth’s orbit is lovely this time of year.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/Yale University Press!
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/Yale University Press!
October 9, 2021
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Asteroids is a fascinating, story-filled look into the role of asteroids in the future of human-space interaction. Whether we'll be veering them away from Earth or mining them for resources, Elvis makes a reasonable argument for asteroids being a motivator to further our access to space.
The voice was crisp and snappy enough to keep my interest. None of the sections dragged on too long. The science information was just heavy enough to be taken seriously without being so heavy that it read like a journal article.
I'd recommend this book to anyone with a nonfiction science interest, especially an interest in space exploration possibilities. Asteroids also gives several great discussion topics for high school and university level classes.
Asteroids is a fascinating, story-filled look into the role of asteroids in the future of human-space interaction. Whether we'll be veering them away from Earth or mining them for resources, Elvis makes a reasonable argument for asteroids being a motivator to further our access to space.
The voice was crisp and snappy enough to keep my interest. None of the sections dragged on too long. The science information was just heavy enough to be taken seriously without being so heavy that it read like a journal article.
I'd recommend this book to anyone with a nonfiction science interest, especially an interest in space exploration possibilities. Asteroids also gives several great discussion topics for high school and university level classes.
September 19, 2024
I'll admit my eyes glazed over a bit when Dr. Martin Elvis explained some of the math formulas involved, but I LOVED his optimism about the future of humans in space. He's enthusiasm is exactly the balance needed against all the pessimists gloomily predicting we'll never get off this rock. This is a fascinating look at both the history and science of asteroids. Take that Thomas Jefferson! Rocks DO fall from the heavens!! Also a great explication of what drives us forward, and how we might move up.
June 8, 2024
Fantastic! Really loved the tripartite layout of greed, love, and fear.
October 2, 2024
Bloody fantastic read. More humorous than I would’ve thought, interesting propositions and language someone who isn’t a huge space nerd like me could easily digest. Highly recommend!
August 7, 2021
One Sentence Review: Space is for the rich.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews