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Asteroid Miners Wanted!
Are you tired of looking at those boring Earth-related jobs? Well, you're in luck, because Planetary Resources, Inc is looking for asteroid miners!
Planetary Resources, Inc (PRI), The Asteroid Mining Company, is seeking qualified and enthusiastic candidates for paid cooperative education positions to assist in the development of new systems and technologies for the commercial robotic exploration of near Earth asteroids in our Bellevue, WA location. Applicants should have an interest in space systems design and application and should expect a hands-on, intense and dynamic work environment.
PRI is currently reviewing candidates for a start of employment in January, 2013.
Asteroid mining has a long and honored history in science fiction. Here's an early mention from Edison's Conquest of Mars (1898), by Garrett P. Seviss:
Evidently the planet was not a solid ball of gold, formed like a bullet run in a mould, but was composed of nuggets of various sizes, which had come together here under the influence of their mutual gravitation, and formed a little metallic planet.
Judging by the test of weight which we had already tried, and which had led to the discovery of the gold, the composition of the asteroid must be the same to its very centre.
A half-century later, Raymond Z. Gallun described how an ordinary family homesteaded an asteroid in Asteroid of Fear.
Today, remotely directed mining robots. Tomorrow, you'll be setting up your asteroid garden on Vesta.
Update 03-Mar-2017: See also meteor miner from Salvage in Space (1930) by Jack Williamson.
End update.
PRI’s vision is to mine near-Earth asteroids for raw materials, ranging from water to precious metals through the rapid development of innovative and cost-effective exploration technologies. Resource extraction from asteroids will deliver multiple benefits to humanity and grow to be valued at tens of billions of dollars annually. The effort will tap into the high concentration of precious materials found on asteroids and will provide a foundation for further space exploration and a sustainable supply of raw materials to the ever-growing population on Earth. It may sound like science fiction, but it’s just science!
I shall never forget the sight, nor the exclamations of wonder that broke forth from all of us standing around, when the yellow gleam of the precious metal appeared under the "star dust." Collected in huge masses it reflected the light of the sun from its hiding place.
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