US proposed law: ASTEROIDS Act of 2014

[DocM]

ASTEROIDS Act of 2014

(American Space Technology for Exploring Resource Opportunities in Deep Space)

Bill link....(PDF)

Story link....

A bill introduced Thursday by two members of the House Science Committee seeks to promote commercial asteroid ventures, including securing property rights for resources extracted from asteroids by American companies.

The American Space Technology for Exploring Resource Opportunities in Deep Space (ASTEROIDS) Act of 2014, HR 5063, was introduced Thursday by Reps. Bill Posey (R-FL) and Derek Kilmer (D-WA), members of the House Science Committee. The relatively short bill (about four and a half pages in the copy provided by Posey?s office late Thursday, since the bill is not yet posted on Congress.gov) would direct the president, through the FAA and other agencies, to ?facilitate the commercial exploration and utilization of asteroid resources to meet national needs,? ?discourage government barriers? to asteroid resources ventures, and promote the right of American companies involved in those activities to both explore and utilize asteroids as well as transfer and sell them.

Perhaps most importantly, the bill provides property rights to resources extracted by those companies: ?Any resources obtained in outer space from an asteroid are the property of the entity that obtained such resources, which shall be entitled to all property rights thereto, consistent with applicable provisions of Federal law.? The bill does not extend those property rights beyond the resources a company extracted, such as a claim of property on the asteroid, or of an asteroid itself. The bill also provides for freedom from harmful interference, noting that ?any assertion of superior right to execute specific commercial asteroid resource utilization activities in outer space shall prevail if it is found to be first in time,? at least among companies subject to US law.

?Asteroids are excellent potential sources of highly valuable resources and minerals,? said Posey in a press release announcing the bill. ?Our legislation will help promote private exploration and protect commercial rights as these endeavors move forward.?

?We may be many years away from successfully mining an asteroid, but the research to turn this from science fiction into reality is being done today,? said Kilmer in the same release. ?Businesses in Washington state and elsewhere are investing in this opportunity, but in order to grow and create more jobs they need greater certainty.? That?s a reference to Planetary Resources, a company headquartered in the Seattle area (although not in Kilmer?s district) that has long-term plans to mine asteroids.

Getting the bill passed, though, is no certain feat. Besides drumming up support for the bill in both the House and the Senate, the bill?s advocates have to deal with a tight legislative schedule the rest of this year: the House is scheduled to be in session for only ten weeks for the rest of the calendar year.

[statm1]

There are 24 weeks or so left in the year and they are only scheduled to work TEN of those 24 weeks (minus holidays)? Come onnnnn.. /rant

[DocM]

Don't forget there are Congressional elections in November, meaning they take time.off to campaign.

After the election Congress may, or may not, return for a Lame Duck Session - the last opportunity for the losers to influence things.

A few weeks after that the holiday recess begins, which extends past New Years. The new 114th Congress begins Jan 3, 2015.

[spenser.d]

Don't forget there are Congressional elections in November, meaning they take time.off to campaign.

After the election Congress may, or may not, return for a Lame Duck Session - the last opportunity for the losers to influence things.

A few weeks after that the holiday recess begins, which extends past New Years. The new 114th Congress begins Jan 3, 2015.

Maybe if they did their damn job well they wouldn't need to spend so much time campaigning and could get even more done.

Case in point this bill. Seems reasonable enough at face value and could jump start some more exploration :yes:

[FloatingFatMan]

When it comes to claiming ownership of objects in space, American law is completely useless.  It needs to be international laws for that sort of thing...

[DocM]

The Outer Space Treaty allows commercial exploitation. The idea is to claim the mined materials, not to claim the body they came from. Exclusive operational zones should also be allowed.

The more stringent restrictions of the Moon Treaty are irrelevant as no major spacefaring nations have ratified it. Just 16 nations have ratified or acceded to it, with 5 more signing but not ratifying. The only spacefaring nations are in the unratified group; France and India.

[Vykranth]

So, these people want to create a new Gold Rush ? Export the Wild West to make the Wild Asteroid Belt?

I like the way it is worded: we do not claim property of the body but we claim ownership of what we mined.

Typical of the mining/oil industry way of doing business: we are proprietary of the things we got, the rest, nah, not of our concern, if the remains of the asteroids cause troubles for others, meh, not our fault ...

They have not finishing ######ing up this planet completely yet and they want a head-start on other celestial bodies?

[neoadorable]

Vyk, whatever is wrong with humanity on this world can only get better with expansion and settlement beyond our current boundaries - not worse. I'm no longer active in these discussions for personal reasons but as Carl said, the eventual choice of every civilization is spaceflight or extinction. We both may be pessimists, but surely we do not wish extinction upon our species and civilization, even long after we are gone?

 

Mine away, settle away, do whatever it takes to get humanity going towards a different future, our civilization is stagnating and crumbling for all to see. We need change and space is that change.

[Phouchg]

Bring down the sky.

[Beittil]

Hmm, now I haven't read the piece... but does it include a section where the mining entity is told it needs to make sure that their activities do not create a situation where the mined object(s) become a danger to Earth? If some folks manage to mine an asteroid, changing it's course in the process making it cross paths with Earth some day... that surely needs to be prevented :P

[Hum]

Vyk, whatever is wrong with humanity on this world can only get better with expansion and settlement beyond our current boundaries - not worse. I'm no longer active in these discussions for personal reasons but as Carl said, the eventual choice of every civilization is spaceflight or extinction.

Humans aren't going anywhere, any time soon.

 

There are already humans on other planets, as well.

[insanelyapple]

And I was hoping that there's something that help us protect Earth from asteroids under such **** long acronym... Oh I'm so naive.

Please Hum, so far we reached just Moon so stop *** about humans on other planets - it's not one of your crazy topics.

[neoadorable]

And I was hoping that there's something that help us protect Earth from asteroids under such **** long acronym... Oh I'm so naive.

Please Hum, so far we reached just Moon so stop *** about humans on other planets - it's not one of your crazy topics.

 

Hum is always right, that is the rule

[DocM]

NASA plans to capture a small asteroid with a probe, bring it back near Earth using plasma drive engines, and put it in orbit around the Moon. Then astronauts in an Orion spacecraft will visit it and practice asteroid ops, take samples etc. It's called ARM - Asteroid Retrieval Mission. Early 2020's.

A commercial outfit called Planetary Resources plans asteroid mining. Their Arkyd space telescope constellation will search for candidate asteroids, then robotic and manned spacecraft will do the deed. Arkyd telescopes will also be used for planet hunting and by universities. LOTS of heavy hitters and former NASA types involved. The first Arkyd 300 telescope goes up soon. Arkyd 300 also uses 3D printed parts, so a large number can be cheaply produced.

These techs could also be used for an asteroid intercept mission if one were found that may impact Earth.

Then there's SpaceX, whose mission is starting a colony on Mars using their next-gen rocket. Its engines components are undergoing tests at NASA Stennis NOW, and it'll be the largest rocket ever made - capable of orbiting the mass if an Airbus A380 airliner. A reusable beast too. No one is even giggling, and that beast has a lot of other possibilities besides Mars.

ARM concept video

[Vykranth]

Vyk, whatever is wrong with humanity on this world can only get better with expansion and settlement beyond our current boundaries - not worse. I'm no longer active in these discussions for personal reasons but as Carl said, the eventual choice of every civilization is spaceflight or extinction. We both may be pessimists, but surely we do not wish extinction upon our species and civilization, even long after we are gone?

 

Mine away, settle away, do whatever it takes to get humanity going towards a different future, our civilization is stagnating and crumbling for all to see. We need change and space is that change.

No, Neo, No. Reaching for the stars at this point of humanity's history is just hiding from the facts, this is a weakness, an act of cowardice, a failure to acknowledge all the errors we made on this planet.

Because of the greed or the selfishness of some individuals who perverted the idea of humanity's progress into unfettered, unregulated capitalism, because of the desire of power and control of others who have managed to create more weapons, the human race have exploited the resources of the planet to extinction or depletion while producing more ways of ensuring our self-destruction.

All the companies who exploits the resources of the planet: mining, oil, fishing, food ... care about one thing: their profits. Forget the employees, the security, the rules or the environment. I could give countless examples of companies who are destroying the planet, they pretend to care for the environment once they are caught red-handed because of an accident, because they want to try to save face, not to try to repair their mistakes.

I could also give countless examples of governments corrupted enough to let that happen ...

Going to exploit asteroids with the current locust mindset of some companies, this is a sure way to trigger the Kessler Syndrome.

For those who do not know what the Kessler Syndrome is, go watch Gravity and imagine the consequences: the planet, shrouded in a cloud of debris, debris that would destroy any satellites launched after, making all the services we rely on satellites gone: no GPS, no weather forecasts, no inter-continental communications. And also, no leaving the planet, Humanity would be condemned to wither and die here.

[DocM]

Gravity was fiction dude.

New launchers and satellites are being designed not to use explosive bolts for separation, the cause of a lot of debris, and to have end of life disposal capability. EOL disposal can cause them to deorbit and burn up or go into a designated disposal orbit. Upper stages now deorbit themselves, even microsats can be equipped with tiny ion drives to dispose of themselves.

Techs are also being designed to clear out existing debris, and habitats/spacecraft based on tech like the Bigelow inflatables can handle impacts far better than aluminum cans like ISS.

Chill.

[Torolol]

and we can still do the inter-continental communication using the old way: short-wave.

[SALSN]

All the companies who exploits the resources of the planet: mining, oil, fishing, food ... care about one thing: their profits. Forget the employees, the security, the rules or the environment. I could give countless examples of companies who are destroying the planet, they pretend to care for the environment once they are caught red-handed because of an accident, because they want to try to save face, not to try to repair their mistakes.

I could also give countless examples of governments corrupted enough to let that happen ...

I'm pretty sure all the people planing serious space adventures (not the company) are idealists, and not corrupt business men, of course we have to be sure to keep it that way, but at least for now, I think most of these people actually have good intentions.

[DocM]

All Musk wants to do is revolutionize about every aspect of transportation in environmentally positive ways, and establish a colony on Mars. Nothing major.

Rumors are he also has a long term goal of completing a project the USAF cancelled: an electric fan "jet."

[FloatingFatMan]

All Musk wants to do is revolutionize about every aspect of transportation in environmentally positive ways, and establish a colony on Mars. Nothing major.

Rumors are he also has a long term goal of completing a project the USAF cancelled: an electric fan "jet."

 

It's a reasonable want, and one he should be allowed to bring to fruition as rapidly as possible!

[neoadorable]

No, Neo, No. Reaching for the stars at this point of humanity's history is just hiding from the facts, this is a weakness, an act of cowardice, a failure to acknowledge all the errors we made on this planet.

Because of the greed or the selfishness of some individuals who perverted the idea of humanity's progress into unfettered, unregulated capitalism, because of the desire of power and control of others who have managed to create more weapons, the human race have exploited the resources of the planet to extinction or depletion while producing more ways of ensuring our self-destruction.

All the companies who exploits the resources of the planet: mining, oil, fishing, food ... care about one thing: their profits. Forget the employees, the security, the rules or the environment. I could give countless examples of companies who are destroying the planet, they pretend to care for the environment once they are caught red-handed because of an accident, because they want to try to save face, not to try to repair their mistakes.

I could also give countless examples of governments corrupted enough to let that happen ...

Going to exploit asteroids with the current locust mindset of some companies, this is a sure way to trigger the Kessler Syndrome.

For those who do not know what the Kessler Syndrome is, go watch Gravity and imagine the consequences: the planet, shrouded in a cloud of debris, debris that would destroy any satellites launched after, making all the services we rely on satellites gone: no GPS, no weather forecasts, no inter-continental communications. And also, no leaving the planet, Humanity would be condemned to wither and die here.

 

Vyk, really think you are over-reacting to this, it's not that bad. The situation on Earth isn't that bad, and companies are not as greedy as that. They're not saints, but really not that bad. Anyway, even if they were and things were as horrible as that, i reiterate, it will never get better by confining ourselves to Earth. You will never resolve these problems, no matter what kind of revolution you have in mind. It will always be like this as long as we are human in our current form. The only way to transcend that form, the only way to try and improve, is to expand beyond Earth. It is literally our only chance. But i understand you disagree, i don't want to belabor the point!

[Vykranth]

Vyk, really think you are over-reacting to this, it's not that bad. The situation on Earth isn't that bad, and companies are not as greedy as that. They're not saints, but really not that bad. Anyway, even if they were and things were as horrible as that, i reiterate, it will never get better by confining ourselves to Earth. You will never resolve these problems, no matter what kind of revolution you have in mind. It will always be like this as long as we are human in our current form. The only way to transcend that form, the only way to try and improve, is to expand beyond Earth. It is literally our only chance. But i understand you disagree, i don't want to belabor the point!

 

Am I over-reacting? It took me a long time to give an answer for various reasons but I am going to take the opporuinity of the thread you posted in RWI about the Ebola outbreak.

Humanity, as a whole, is not mature.

The driving forces are fear, jealousy and greed. 

Fear that pushes us into arming ourselves so that we can obliterate ourselves to oblivion several times if needed, building fortress walls to isolate ourselves, believing that it is safe inside the walls. This is the peace of the cattle.

Jealousy and Greed that brings selfishness, to have more things than the other, to have more money or more power.

You see, Neo, there are two metrics to judge one's success because we equal: the money one has or the power one control over the others. People with money are given as examples: Elon Musk as the next benevolent Tony Stark ... Elon Musk as the guy who invented VISA over the Internet instead of a plastic card.

You want control examples: Carlos Goshn, all CEO are considered manufacturing employes as adjustement variables, as a cost to be reduced in the price to increase profit, as slaves ... Chinese workers are too expensive, let's put the production in Peru, in Bangladesh, in Vietnam.

 

I could continue my rant about programmed obsolecence, about science denial, about self gratification ...

We are not ready to reach for the stars.

[neoadorable]

Am I over-reacting? It took me a long time to give an answer for various reasons but I am going to take the opporuinity of the thread you posted in RWI about the Ebola outbreak.

Humanity, as a whole, is not mature.

The driving forces are fear, jealousy and greed. 

Fear that pushes us into arming ourselves so that we can obliterate ourselves to oblivion several times if needed, building fortress walls to isolate ourselves, believing that it is safe inside the walls. This is the peace of the cattle.

Jealousy and Greed that brings selfishness, to have more things than the other, to have more money or more power.

You see, Neo, there are two metrics to judge one's success because we equal: the money one has or the power one control over the others. People with money are given as examples: Elon Musk as the next benevolent Tony Stark ... Elon Musk as the guy who invented VISA over the Internet instead of a plastic card.

You want control examples: Carlos Goshn, all CEO are considered manufacturing employes as adjustement variables, as a cost to be reduced in the price to increase profit, as slaves ... Chinese workers are too expensive, let's put the production in Peru, in Bangladesh, in Vietnam.

 

I could continue my rant about programmed obsolecence, about science denial, about self gratification ...

We are not ready to reach for the stars.

 

Thank you for noticing the RWI thread! I agree with your points, that humanity CAN be total ######, that too many are driven by hate, prejudice, greed, and jealousy. Those and fear are legitimate sentiments, they are part of the universe. We as humans must know how to resist and transcend them, we are intelligent beings that have built a magnificent civilization, even if the way too many behave makes me wonder if we deserve this civilization.

 

But your conclusions, i don't agree with. Money, weapons...those are not the problems. That's like blaming video games. No difference. People are the problem. If we can't grow up and learn how to balance our civilization with our stupid, animal side...then maybe we do not deserve to exist. But we must try. The conclusion from the whole Ebola thing isn't that humanity is pointless, it's that we have lost our way. We need focus. People worry about petty hatreds and stupid conflicts but overlook the big picture. Which includes issues such as world health and space exploration. I agree with you my friend, we are not mature enough, we need to grow up, there is too much wrong with humanity. But we will not fix it by waiting, we need space to give us that challenge, that focus. I am sure in space we will find our future. If we stay here, we're dead. I still love humanity for all its misgivings.

[DocM]

A big part of the problem is the 5% or so who have psychopathy or one of the other serious personality or mental disorders. We diagnose them too late and have ineffective interventions for those who won't accept, or for those who don't respond to, treatment.

In short, we've become too hesitant to legally impose treatment or institutionalize them until it's too late, and as a result our prisons have become repositories for the severely and dangerously mentally ill. Too late for those they have damaged.

Then there is the portion of this population who do not commit violent crime but non-violent crimes or act our socially. The Bernie Madoff's and others who show the lack of empathy for their victims, a mark of psychopathy.

It's a tough nut.

[RichardK]

There should not be any law.  Any company or person willing to build a vessel capable of reaching an asteroid, should be able to do whatever they want to with whatever they are able to mine/collect from said asteroid.  Any government on this planet that thinks they have any sort of jurisdiction in outer space is completely delusional.