Company aims for riches through asteroid mining

WASHINGTON (AP) — A new company is making plans to mine fuel and minerals out of asteroids that whiz past Earth.

Planetary Resources Inc., says the mining and fuel processing would all be done by robotic ships and will eventually lead to the creation of a kind of gas station based in space.

The Seattle-based company's founders pioneered the idea of selling rides into space to wealthy tourists. Investors and advisers include the CEO and chairman of Google, filmmaker James Cameron and former astronaut Thomas Jones.

Jones calls the mega-million dollar plan "the stuff of science fiction." But he adds, like many ideas in science fiction, "it's possible to begin the process of making them reality."

The first step would be launching a series of telescopes to search for rich asteroid targets. The company expects to get that done within two years.

Outside scientists call the plan daring, difficult and highly expensive. They say it's hard to see how it will be cost-effective.

An upcoming NASA mission to return just 2 ounces of an asteroid to Earth will cost about $1 billion.

APPHOTO NY619: HOLD FOR RELEASE UNTIL 3:00 A.M. EDT ON TUESDAY APRIL 24 2012. THIS PHOTO MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST OR POSTED ONLINE BEFORE APRIL 24 2012 AT 3:00 A.M. EDT - This computer-generated image provided by Planetary Resources, a group of high-tech tycoons that wants to mine nearby asteroids, shows a conceptual rendering of several small robotic spacecraft mining a near-Earth asteroid. The group's mega-million dollar plan is to use commercially built robotic ships to squeeze rocket fuel and valuable minerals like platinum and gold out of the lifeless rocks that routinely whiz by Earth. One of the company founders predicts they could have their version of a space-based gas station up and running by 2020. (AP Photo/Planetary Resources) (20 Apr 2012)

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APPHOTO NY618: HOLD FOR RELEASE UNTIL 3:00 A.M. EDT ON TUESDAY APRIL 24 2012. THIS PHOTO MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST OR POSTED ONLINE BEFORE APRIL 24 2012 AT 3:00 A.M. EDT - This computer-generated image provided by Planetary Resources, a group of high-tech tycoons that wants to mine nearby asteroids, shows a conceptual rendering of a spacecraft preparing to capture a water-rich, near-Earth asteroid. The group's mega-million dollar plan is to use commercially built robotic ships to squeeze rocket fuel and valuable minerals like platinum and gold out of the lifeless rocks that routinely whiz by Earth. One of the company founders predicts they could have their version of a space-based gas station up and running by 2020. (AP Photo/Planetary Resources) (20 Apr 2012)

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APPHOTO NY617: HOLD FOR RELEASE UNTIL 3:00 A.M. EDT ON TUESDAY APRIL 24 2012. THIS PHOTO MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST OR POSTED ONLINE BEFORE APRIL 24 2012 AT 3:00 A.M. EDT - This March 3, 2000 image provided by NASA shows the near-Earth asteroid Eros from the NEAR spacecraft at a distance of 127 miles (204 kilometers). A group of high-tech tycoons wants to mine nearby asteroids, hoping to turn science fiction into real profits. The mega-million dollar plan is to use commercially built robotic ships to squeeze rocket fuel and valuable minerals like platinum and gold out of the lifeless rocks that routinely whiz by Earth. One of the company founders predicts they could have their version of a space-based gas station up and running by 2020. (AP Photo/NASA) (20 Apr 2012)

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APPHOTO NY620: HOLD FOR RELEASE UNTIL 3:00 A.M. EDT ON TUESDAY APRIL 24 2012. THIS PHOTO MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST OR POSTED ONLINE BEFORE APRIL 24 2012 AT 3:00 A.M. EDT - This computer-generated image provided by Planetary Resources, a group of high-tech tycoons that wants to mine nearby asteroids, shows a conceptual rendering of satellites prospecting a water-rich, near-Earth asteroid. The group's mega-million dollar plan is to use commercially built robotic ships to squeeze rocket fuel and valuable minerals like platinum and gold out of the lifeless rocks that routinely whiz by Earth. One of the company founders predicts they could have their version of a space-based gas station up and running by 2020. (AP Photo/Planetary Resources) (20 Apr 2012)

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