Last month billionaire-backed company Planetary Resources Inc announced its intention to mine asteroids close to Earth for their precious metals and water. The company claims that although there are huge technological hurdles to be overcome, the idea is no stranger than deep-sea oil drilling operations.
Although a big idea for the business and technology world, asteroid mining hasn’t yet made a major impact in the mainstream media. Fifty-seven percent of Americans have so far heard nothing about it. Many people do, however, think that in a hundred years from now most of our precious minerals will be coming from outer space. Fifty-five percent of Americans think it very or somewhat likely and only 16 percent think it very unlikely.
The Space Race generation is generally most optimistic about off-earth mining with 58 percent thinking it is very or somewhat likely, while just less than half (49 percent) of 18-29 year olds agree.
