Asteroid Mining: a cautionary rhyme

Asteroid - Free image from Pixabay

We are likely hear a lot about asteroid mining in the next couple of decades. It could have the momentum of an early gold rush. It will be undertaken by commercial concerns and cannot easily be regulated. Any commercial activity carries an innate risk of greed and we have seen how destructive that can be in the global financial markets in recent years.  This short poem reflects on unregulated commercial activity in space.

Asteroid Mining.

It proved to harbour untold wealth,

far beyond the wildest dreams

of those who’d planned this cosmic chance;

an asteroid seized for its mineral seams

It was brought to the edge of the atmosphere,

then slowed to avoid its breaking apart,

steered to land in a wilderness place,

manoeuvred for exploitation to start.

‘Rare earths’ no longer described the haul,

though they were the nature of what was found,

a plethora far beyond the stocks

of those believed to be stored in the ground.

But beyond the sight of greedy eyes,

a heat-resistant microbe strain,

had fallen to earth in the sweeping descent

to spread unchecked through its novel terrain.

If you want to read more about these ideas, go to http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21144769

and if you'd like to read more of my 'Care of The Planet' poems click here

More remote and unapproachable are black holes. A lighthearted reflection on these curious objects can be found at Black Hole