K9atLarge

Aren't we supposed to be mining asteroids by now? We all remember seeing occasional news about huge profit to be had from gold, iron and platinum rich asteroids just flying around out there for the taking. But how have timelines and expectations in this industry evolved over time? Going back to the mid 1990s, it was thought we'd already be there today. The BBC’s Tomorrow’s World special, broadcast on July 7, 1995 for the program’s 30th anniversary (Link Below), looked ahead 30 years to 2025 and portrayed asteroid mining as an established, lucrative industry. John S. Lewis’s influential 1996 book Mining the Sky also popularized the idea with optimistic economic analyses. He highlighting the immense value of even small metallic asteroids which could contain trillions of dollars in metals. Other academic and advocacy discussions in the late 1990s treated prospecting missions as feasible in the early 2000s and commercial extraction as a realistic 21st century possibility. bbc.com/videos/cj6zxwn… By the early to mid 2000s, optimism had cooled on the venture. Broader views positioned asteroid mining as potentially viable in the coming decades once launch costs dropped and robotics advanced. There were few bold 'by 20XX' media predictions. It was seen as a longer term goal amid competing priorities like the International Space Station and Shuttle program. The early 2010s though brought a surge of private sector hype that dramatically shortened perceived timelines. In April 2012, Planetary Resources, backed by investors including Larry Page, Eric Schmidt and James Cameron, announced ambitious plans. (Link Below) They envisioned a space telescope in operation by 2014–2016 for prospecting, followed by sample and return missions and eventual mining. Executives spoke of propellant depots in space within the decade and water derived fuel for an in space economy by the first half of the 2020s. A 2015 Space.com article (Link Below) captured the prevailing excitement. It read 'Asteroid Mining May Be a Reality by 2025' with the author expressing confidence in asteroid water delivery and refueling economies up and running soon after. Consensus optimism during this time period was fueled by falling launch costs, billionaire backing, and SpaceX's early successes with reusable rockets. theverge.com/2012/4/24/2971… space.com/30213-asteroid… By 2020 however, expectations had once again cooled as early companies faced setbacks. Planetary Resources flew some small prototype satellites but struggled with funding and technical challenges. It was sold off by the end of 2019 along with a similar company, Deep Space Industries. Media coverage increasingly highlighted difficulties like enormous upfront costs, the need for reliable in space infrastructure for refueling, robotics, regulatory uncertainties, and the fact that high profile science missions like Hayabusa2 in 2020 and OSIRIS-REx were advancing knowledge but not commercial extraction logistics. Timelines stretched to the 2030s. Today, the prevailing media and expert consensus views asteroid mining as years or decades away from meaningful commercial beginnings. No extraction or return of asteroid resources for profit has occurred. But there is hope. Science and prospecting missions advance. The Psyche mission (Link Below) to a metal rich asteroid, launched 2023 and arriving 2029, and newer startup AstroForge securing licenses for deep space prospecting missions targeting the late 2020s are marching forward. Many believe progress hinges on cheaper heavy lift capability. SpaceX's Starship advancements will help. Market forecasts project growth in a future asteroid mining sector, but these assume it begins scaling in the 2030s or later. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psyche_(s… So where will we be in 5-10 years? Still 10-20 years away as we have been since the 90s? Or will this burgeoning industry have found its feet in the solar system? Thanks for reading. Give me a follow if you enjoyed!

That's why the discourse on self driving cars injuring and killing people is so ridiculous. It's going to happen occasionally but it's statistically so much less common with FSD vehicles. You wouldn't know though based on the media coverage. You'd think people were getting splattered every 10 seconds by robot cars.

@K9atLarge @PalmerLuckey Like driving and pretty much anything that isn't a leisure activity

Everyone who thinks AI slop will ruin code efficiency/performance is going to be so surprised when everything is absurdly well-optimized John Carmack style machine code.

@zerohedge Lots of talk already in Australia about building them here. So much open land if the water issue can be solved.

"An estimated $156 billion of data center projects were cancelled or delayed in 2025, and $130 billion in 1Q26. Community pushback against data center construction has accelerated in 2026 as new moratoriums have been introduced, with the majority of the change happening at the local level. This puts pressure on costs and timelines and could alter the geographic distribution of data centers. Sustained data center pushback could ultimately extend the cycle and reduce future supply by lowering capex and financing needs" - Morgan Stanley

@X @Support I can assure you guys that when I touch anywhere in the upper left or upper right corners of my screen from someone's profile, I am not trying to open their banner picture. I'm aware this is partially a skill issue but please make it easier to go back or open the three dot option menu. I beg.

@IdahoSS4 @wylfcen

@K9atLarge @wylfcen You can’t support Catholics ever

I honestly think we need to scrap Catholicism just cause it’s an aesthetic blight

@CuriosityonX Hopefully we can also find natural corn syrup so we can make Coca Cola. It won't be cost effective to launch much of it up as cargo.

🚨: Astronomers detect natural sugar in interstellar space for the first time

@IdahoSS4 @wylfcen What's your point

@K9atLarge @wylfcen

@poppa2boyz @ofctimallen In the 90s and 00s mall were safe. Closed environments with security. Parents felt fine about their teens being at the mall with their friends.

@K9atLarge @ofctimallen Safe? I guess it depended on where and what time.

Malls are just a bit different since Amazon. Parking is a bit easier though.

@patrickbetdavid Welcome to the block list, retard.

Did you know the Mayor of NY City makes more money than: 1. Zohran Mamdani $258,750 2. Marco Rubio (Secretary of State) $250,600 3. Pete Hegseth (Secretary of Defense) $250,600 4. Scott Bessent (Secretary of the Treasury) $250,600 5. J.D. Vance (Vice President) $235,000 Here’s the kicker. Mamdani’s self appointed committee is asking for an 18.2% raise for Mamdani and his elected officials. His new salary would be $305,800. Even a democratic socialist is a deep down capitalist. The guy loves giving himself a raise with tax payers money.

@WuWei113 Wu I don't know if I've ever disagreed with you on a single thing. I followed you because I wanted to read my own opinions but in broken English. Now this. A sad day.

Bitcoin was very good. But it was just a trial-and-error for Zcash. You all soon see zcash:native be the only real cryptocurrency

@IterIntellectus Seems like a positive change for people's moods. I just want to find more like minded people, X algorithm send some space loving 25-40 year old gamer types who follow the news. We all want the same thing.

Britain is the greatest nation in the history of the world and that makes many people resentful as their nations have never done a fraction as well that’s the reality.

Sorry Sean, a persons life, especially if one doesn't know them personally, is just not worth that much anymore to most people. It's easy to rationalize that this individual caused harm while alive so their death is a good thing. Nihilism, desensitization to violence, political division whatever it is. It's probably going to keep getting worse.

@unusual_whales Iran and Gavin Newsom really have a lot of common ground lately.

"Iran will consider all of Elon Musk's companies in the Middle East, including SpaceX's Starlink internet service, as military targets," per CNBC

@SilentSt0rmX Velveeta?

Happy National Mac & Cheese Day!

Have you ever witnessed a total solar eclipse? You might be thinking 'Oh I saw a partial eclipse and it wasn't that impressive. It's not worth traveling and dealing with the traffic and the crowds to see the whole thing.' Well I'm here to tell you you're wrong. It's a completely different experience from a partial eclipse and it's something everyone must see at least once in their life. Total solar eclipses are not particularly rare, with one usually being viewable from somewhere on earth each year. But the path they follow is often over the ocean making it difficult to be in the right place at the right time. When they do cross land, you need to be precisely within the narrow path of totality to see the full eclipse. But if you plan it just right you can witness the moon covering the sun perfectly, resulting in a beautiful sight. You can see the corona of our sun radiating outward from a black disc as day turns to night around you for several minutes. The temperature plummets, bird and insect sounds change, and stars become visible. You can stare at this wonder with no eye protection, as long as totality continues. You won't be alone either as these are massive popular events and the sense of community among eclipse chasers and travelers is strong. Some upcoming total solar eclipses include: August 12, 2026 in Greenland, Iceland and Spain. August 2, 2027 in Spain (AGAIN! very lucky) and Northern Africa July 22, 2028 in Australia and New Zealand The next one that will be visible from the continental United States will be on August 23, 2044. You'll need to travel to Montana or North Dakotah to catch it. But don't wait that long! Make plans to travel and see one. It is worth it. The picture shows the path of totality for the 2028 eclipse traveling through Australia and New Zealand. This will be a massive event for the region, as are all total solar eclipses. It will pass directly over central Sydney in AUS plus Queenstown and Dunedin in NZ. I'll be back with more info on traveling to see an eclipse, planning, stories, and what to expect. Stay tuned. Thanks for reading.

@OCTrojan718 @CuriosityonX The color is completely irrelevant on this one. Really great visual of gravitational lensing.

@K9atLarge @CuriosityonX just another false color image

🚨: Newest image from JWST just dropped.

@TheNextPharaon @DrCheekyFriend @HamasCOO Wow. This is just one of those moments, how long has she spent staring at that photo in the Walmart parking lot.

@DrCheekyFriend @HamasCOO i think so

This schizophrenic lady I follow on IG who believes she’s married to shia labuff finally found him

Hello, I fucking love all of you, I don’t give a fuck whether you like me or not 🫶🏽