RE: starship-design: Private Asteroid Mining

["L. Parker" <lparker@cacaphony.net>]

Ken,

> Here's some good news for near-term space development that I ran across:
>
>
> A small company unveiled plans today to launch the first private 
> spacecraft to leave Earth's orbit, on a mission to visit a nearby
> asteroid. A team of University of California, San Diego, students are 
> working on the design of the Near Earth Asteroid Prospector (NEAP), 

Jim Bensen announced his intention to do this about six months ago. The
latest press release is just an attempt to generate some publicity and 
some cash. Although I love the idea, he isn't doing very well generating 
customers. Too bad, because I believe this is the only way we will ever
get into space to stay...

Lee