Strategy for mining asteroids, part VIII

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An alternate plan for mining the asteroid.  Instead of bringing back so much metal initially, start off slower.  Bring back as much ( 50 tons ) as you take from Earth.  But deliver it to the Moon's Lagrange Point L2.

The idea is to replace the original idea of 12 missions to asteroids and build a Moonstalk.  Here, we will build 12 solar sail vehicles in order to do 120 missions over 10 years that will build the Moonstalk.  At the end of the construction, there will be 6000 tons of a living area that will also serve as an anchor for the Moonstalk.  The Moonstalk will give access to the lunar surface without the need of propellant.  Also, at the end of the construction period, there will be 6000 tons of equipment on 3554 Amun.  With that much equipment and that much in the way of facilities having been constructed there already, mining of the asteroid can begin in earnest.

Eventually, the fleet of solar sails could be bringing back 50 tons of platinum a flight.  That's worth $2 billion per flight.  Or $24 billion per year.

Once the serious mining begins, serious construction on the asteroid could begin.  The big torus can begin at this time while the platinum deliveries are ramping up.

Meanwhile, back on the moon, the Moonstalk can aid in economic development there.  The sales of platinum can finance that development.

This idea may be worked into the original plan to grab an asteroid and bring it back for 2.6 billion dollars.  Instead of spending it on just one asteroid, you could spend it on this asteroid.  Eventually the entire project could be self-liquidating--- like the Hoover Dam.  It will facilitate the development of the entire solar system.

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