Re: Really? Harmful contamination? Really?
I'm bemused that anyone could seriously believe that space mining would be done by sending people plus a full life support system. Anyone with the technical know-how to get there (and bring the stuff back, for less than a terrestrial mine (and Tim has written a whole book on how implausible *that* is)) will certainly be able to automate the actual mining.
I'm slightly surprised that we still use them for mining on Earth, but I suppose in some places life is cheap enough to make that pay.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
