Mining Mars

The Algerian Science Minister cut a dapper figure in his ornate, colonial office with its heavy furniture. The slow fan overhead was superfluous; I could hear the faint hiss of aircon in the background.

It was baking hot outside.

It had taken months to arrange this interview. The tech world had been agog for ages about the vast, secretive installation taking shape to the south of us, deep in the Sahara. Now I was here: what a scoop for Wired!

The pleasantries went on for a while; nothing is quick in this part of the world. Eventually the Minister's thoughts turned to business.

"Everything is easy when you have power. Algeria has potentially the cheapest solar power in the world. That's what Mr Musk said to me when he was sat in that very chair."

The Minister was smiling,  enjoying his moment to go public; then he paused, as if waiting for me to recognise my cue. I naturally obliged:

"I take it you are building the world's biggest solar power array down in the south, Minister. - What were you planning to use all that power for?"

This was to be a stately unveiling, a dance of veils.

"You've heard of Breakthrough Starshot of course. It occurred to Mr Musk that such powerful launch lasers might have other targets than Proxima Centauri."

The Minister looked encouragingly at me for a moment, and then more intently, as if I was in danger of failing an exam.

"Of course, Mars," I breathed. "It's his backup, in case the BFR doesn't hack it!'

"Close, but not a cigar, as you say," the Minister said.

"No, I guess they still haven't managed to slow things down with lasers. What did Mr Musk say, that he wanted to die on Mars but preferably not on impact?"

The Minister smiled politely before continuing,

"Mr Musk told us that the greatest problem for his Mars colony was the lack of raw materials. He's thinking of opencast mining in a crater next to the colony site. Mr Musk is a genius. He sees a way to kill three birds with one stone. And the key to it is Europe, just across the Mediterranean from us."

He had completely lost me. Mining? Europe?

Still, I'm a journalist. Nothing for it but to brazen things out.

"So let me see. You're going to import coal, steel, rare earths from Europe and send them to Mars, launched on giant lasers. They will impact in a crater next to Mr Musk's future Mars Colony ready for mining. Is that right?"

As I was speaking, the Minister's irritating smile had been growing broader. My voice trailed off as I contemplated the hole I was apparently digging myself into.

“But the economics would never work,” I said, half to myself.

The Minister continued relentlessly. “The payload hits the Martian atmosphere at 20 to 30 kilometres per second, aiming at the target crater. Synthetic polymers burn off during entry or dissociate in the impact fireball. Heavier stuff tends to stay put, once it solidifies. As Mr Musk says, it's all good.”

He smiled at me once again; he'd arrived at his punchline.

“And the nice thing is, the whole project is cost-neutral: the Europeans are paying us to dispose of their EU mountain of landfill.”

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© Nigel Seel. June 2018.

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