> I fail to see how mining asteroids to use their resources on Earth could make economic sense in any reasonable time-frame.
It may not matter. Assuming Cameron has enough wealth to support himself and his family for the rest of his life, what else is he going to spend his money on?
He's already made it pretty clear that he's keen on exploration, and that space is an interest. If his net worth is $650m (wikipedia), I would imagine that he'd be quite comfortable spending $500m of that on something that he's passionate about - even if it's not profitable by the time he's dead.
Mining the asteroids is inevitable. Maybe it wont be profitable in 10 years, or 20, or 50, or 100. But he wants to spend some of our Avatar dollars bootstrapping a new industry, I don't have a problem with it.
I honestly don't think that he would expect to be profitable in the near term, but I don't think that's a factor for him.
It may not matter. Assuming Cameron has enough wealth to support himself and his family for the rest of his life, what else is he going to spend his money on?
He's already made it pretty clear that he's keen on exploration, and that space is an interest. If his net worth is $650m (wikipedia), I would imagine that he'd be quite comfortable spending $500m of that on something that he's passionate about - even if it's not profitable by the time he's dead.
Mining the asteroids is inevitable. Maybe it wont be profitable in 10 years, or 20, or 50, or 100. But he wants to spend some of our Avatar dollars bootstrapping a new industry, I don't have a problem with it.
I honestly don't think that he would expect to be profitable in the near term, but I don't think that's a factor for him.