Media release
From: Australian Science Media CentreIt sounds like the stuff of science fiction, but thanks to recent technological advances, countries around the world are preparing for the possibility of mining asteroids as they rocket past Earth. Last year the US passed the "SPACE Act of 2015" allowing its citizens, if able, to mine and sell asteroid resources, while earlier this month Luxembourg announced that it was trying to jump start an industrial sector to mine asteroid resources in space. But what are the possibilities and should Australia be preparing for lift-off too? Join us for this online briefing as experts explore just what's up there, why we want it and whether we should be preparing for future "space wars".
The briefing will discuss the following issues:
- Can we get there?
- What will we be mining for?
- Can we afford it and will it be economically viable?
- How dangerous will it be?
- Who owns it?
- Are we going to fight over it?
Speakers:
- Dr Alice Gorman is a senior lecturer from the department of archaeology at Flinders University and an internationally recognised leader in the emerging field of space archaeology.
- Associate Professor Serkan Saydam is the research director from the UNSW School of Mining Engineering and was chair for the recent Off Earth Mining Forum.
- Professor Steven Freeland teaches commercial aspects of space law at Western Sydney University and has been appointed to assist the Australian Department of Industry, Innovation and Science in the current review of the Australian regulatory framework for space activities
Date: Monday 22 February 2016
***The AusSMC generally runs two different types of media briefings:
NEWS BRIEFINGS – Where new research or data will be released as part of the briefing
BACKGROUND BRIEFINGS – Where experts discuss an issue which is in the news or an issue we consider newsworthy, but no new research or data is being released