In 1977 George Lucas released the first of the Star Wars films, creating a cultural phenomenon that is today the second-highest grossing media franchise of all time.
But unlike many other ideas and features in his films and stories, Lucas didn’t invent the idea of space battles.
This is the humble book that literally invented star wars…
This is my copy of Edison’s Conquest of Mars. It’s an early science fiction novel written by Garrett P. Serviss in 1898.
And there’s no better example I’ve ever seen of why you should never judge a book by its cover.
I’m willing to bet dollars to donuts that you’ve never heard of Edison’s Conquest of Mars or its author, Garrett Serviss.
Very few people have.
Even if you’re a hardcore fan of science fiction, it’s unlikely you’ve ever heard of Serviss or his work.
But Edison’s Conquest of Mars is an absolutely groundbreaking work of fiction.
As you might have guessed, the eponymous Edison of the book’s title is the Thomas Edison, inventor of everything from the light bulb to saying “hello” as a telephone greeting.
The plot involves Thomas Edison leading a group of scientists (including Serviss who puts himself in the story) on a counter-strike attack to fight aliens on the planet Mars.
Illustration from Edison’s Conquest of Mars
At first that plot might sound very weird. But Thomas Edison was a contemporary of Serviss. So the plot is comparable to one about Elon Musk going to Mars to fight aliens, which I’m certain has been already written many times over by now.
But what’s most notable about the book is how many brand-new ideas it presented.
As I mentioned, Edison’s Conquest of Mars is noted as the very first literary work to feature space battles. It invented star wars.
But that’s not all.
Edison’s Conquest of Mars is also noted as containing the very first literal instance of space suits. It describes an “air-tight dress constructed somewhat after the manner of a diver’s suit, but of much lighter material,” which by wearing, “one could venture outside the ship even when it was beyond the atmosphere of the Earth.”
That has since become science fact.
Again, Edison’s Conquest of Mars was written in 1898. The first patents for air-tight suits for high-altitude flight weren’t filed until the 1910s.
The book also has the first instance of alien abduction in science fiction. How many science fiction stories have alien abductions in them today? All of them?
It’s also the first literary example of oxygen pills and disintegrator rays, which is another major element of Lucas’ Star Wars universe.
Serviss isn’t done…
Edison’s Conquest of Mars was also the first time aliens building the Ancient Egyptian pyramids was mentioned.
Where would this guy be without that?
The book ALSO contains the very first literary instance of the topic of today’s discussion: Space mining.
First let’s get one thing out of the way…
Yes, I know we’re already technically mining in space.
The Earth is floating around in space, and we’re on the Earth mining materials we need, so we’re already technically “mining in space.”
Fine. But I don’t feel like calling it “extraterrestrial mining” or “off-Earth mining.” So I’m just going to call it “space mining.” Besides, the SEO team would insist on me calling it “space mining” anyway.
But what we’re talking about is mining operations conducted on an asteroid, the Earth’s moon, a moon of a nearby planet, or one of the nearby planets or other rocky space bodies themselves.
In Edison’s Conquest of Mars, aliens on Mars are mining asteroids for gold. The book explains:
With their projectile cars sent forth with the aid of the mysterious explosives which they possess, it is easy for them under such circumstances, to make visits to the asteroid.
Having obtained all the gold they need or all that they can carry, a comparatively slight impulse given to their car, the direction of which is carefully calculated, will carry them back again to Mars.
By the way, it’s not just you. Despite having so many “firsts” in literature, one of the main reasons I think Edison’s Conquest of Mars is often ignored is because it’s a bit overwritten, using peculiarly ornate and flowery language.
Language aside, this description of fictional space mining was the very first. And now, more than a century later, it seems the reality of space mining is closer than ever.
In 2019, NASA put out a press release indicating it was preparing for space mining. NASA wrote:
Robotically surveying lunar craters in record time and mining resources in space could help NASA establish a sustained human presence at the Moon – part of the agency’s broader Moon to Mars exploration approach. Two mission concepts to explore these capabilities have been selected as the first-ever Phase III studies within the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program.
Since then space mining has been covered by every media outlet imaginable with eye-catching headlines like:
Millions of asteroids could make you richer than Elon Musk — New York Post (December 13, 2021)
‘Potentially hazardous’ asteroid worth nearly $5 billion will skim past Earth this week, NASA says — Live Science (December 03, 2021)
Rare asteroids near Earth may contain precious metals worth $11.65 trillion — CNET (October 4, 2021)
Mining a $10,000 Quadrillion Asteroid — Bloomberg (Feb 1, 2021)
NASA to Study a $700 Quintillion ‘Goldmine’ Asteroid — Nerdist (August 11, 2021)
$700,000,000,000,000,000,000.
That’s $87.5 trillion for every single person on planet Earth.
No doubt, hopes about space mining are quite high.
But before we all start spending our newly found moon money, there are several things to consider.
First, some of the technologies required for a large-scale space mining operation, like one from an “Alien” film, simply don’t exist yet.
Illustration of moon mining concept
One of the main goals for NASA and everyone else working to develop space mining is simply to develop the technology needed.
Jim Reuter, associate administrator of NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate, said in 2019, “We are pursuing new technologies across our development portfolio that could help make deep space exploration more Earth-independent by utilizing resources on the Moon and beyond. These NIAC Phase III selections are a component of that forward-looking research and we hope new insights will help us achieve more firsts in space.”
Aside from this is the momentous cost of just getting into space.
Up until recently, the expected cost of sending just one pound of material into orbit was over $10,000.
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 launch vehicle, however, has drastically brought down those cost expectations. The company’s Smallsat Rideshare Program is aiming to reduce the cost of mass payloads by sending 200 kilograms (440 pounds) into a sun-synchronous orbit for $1 million — $2,500 per pound.
But even with such a drastic reduction in launch cost, space mining remains far from economical.
Over the next few decades, the cost of payload launch is expected to decrease to only a few dollars per pound… but we’re talking 30 or 40 years.
And even then, it’s still going to be very expensive to get mining equipment off Earth.
But let me play the role of a science fiction writer for a moment. Let us imagine that a world-changing technology is discovered not decades from now, but tomorrow, that drastically reduces the cost of payload launch to pennies — so that the cost of transporting anything to the moon has become equal to transporting it on Earth.
Now we can send all the manpower and exploration/mining equipment to the moon at the same cost as sending them anywhere on Earth, no problem.
Thing is, mining isn’t as easy as just showing up and digging.
Multiple different types of surveys and mapping need to be completed even before exploration can begin.
And then you need to explore property to determine exactly how and where is best to mine.
And then you can start building your mine.
On Earth, the process of getting a project from greenfield property to mine-ready commercial operation can take five to 10 years, depending on several different factors. On the moon, I can’t imagine that process being any faster.
So even if someone started on a project to commercially mine on the moon today, it would take at least a decade for anything to actually be produced.
Moreover, the first “mining” missions will most likely search for water, which would be useful for refueling satellites and future space endeavors.
NASA said it was developing technologies for “optical mining,” which is a conceptual approach to mining water from asteroids. It writes, “Called Mini Bee, the mission concept aims to prove optical mining, in conjunction with other innovative spacecraft systems, can be used to obtain propellant in space. The proposed architecture includes resource prospecting, extraction, and delivery.”
Illustration of the Mini Bee mission concept
But it’s all still only a concept.
Point is, don’t hold your breath.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I do believe human beings will one day be actively space mining… Yes, like from an “Alien” film.
But not for decades — meaning for investors, it’s waaaay too early.
Space-mining stocks are probably best left to our grandchildren and great-grandchildren. In a few decades they can trade space-mining stocks via their neural implants which consciously links them to a super network of all encompassing connectivity.
For us still in the savage era of early internet, we’re best to stick to Earth-mining stocks.
