MINING THE SKY

Here is an interview with a proponent of privatizing space for resource extraction.

The aerospace corporations are eager to mine the sky for precious minerals.

One key element in all of this will be nuclear powered mining colonies on the Moon, Mars and asteroids.  The nuclear industry is eager for this space market to expand.  Imagine though what happens when launch failures happen, as they surely will, and plutonium rains down on our heads.

One big area of conflict is ownership - who can own the planetary bodies?  The Outer Space and Moon treaties at the United Nations say that no individual, no corporation, nor any country can claim ownership of any planetary body.  The U.S. never signed the Moon Treaty - I wonder why?

Imagine the conflict coming from an unregulated, frontier mentality that is now being promoted for space.