"If you’re going to have a Sputnik moment, how about mining an asteroid for natural resources? ... There's more natural resources on asteroids than have ever been mined in the history of the earth. So I would say we have to turn space into our backyard"

Neil deGrasse Tyson, 2015

2015 OFF EARTH MINING FORUM

Photos & Video from the events are available below. Presentation slides available here.

PHOTOS: Forum Day 1 & 2	PHOTOS: Rosetta Lecture	PHOTOS: NASA Asteroid Lecture

Click here for 2015 Off Earth Mining Forum Media Coverage

In November 2015 the Australian Centre for Space Engineering Research (ACSER) hosted the 2nd Off Earth Mining Forum jointly with the UNSW School of Mining Engineering at the Australian Technology Park.

The first Off-Earth Mining Forum at UNSW Australia's Kensington campus in February 2013 was an extraordinary event. Media coverage had a reach of over 8 million people across the world, with radio coverage in the UK and US, newspaper coverage in India and New Zealand and coverage by all Australian television networks. The second Off-Earth Mining Forum, held in November 2015 in conjunction with the third International Future Mining Conference, was even grander. The excitement generated by this research, fundamental to the establishment of economies in space, is growing.

The forum hosted speakers from across the spectrum of off-earth mining issues: missions, resources, mining technologies, robotics, automation, instrumentation, legal impediments, business risks, and ethical considerations. Participation was welcomed from active domestic and international researchers, as well as interested parties from industry, government and the public.

Asteroid mining companies are soon set to launch their first spacecraft, and NASA is planning colonisation in the near future utilising resources available in space through off-earth mining research activities. If you'd like to know what they're planning and what they need to do to make it happen, check out the videos and slides available from this archived event website.

_{Curiosity Conducting Mini-Drill Test at 'Mojave'.
Image via www.nasa.gov}

Event Details

DATES:

4th November - Opening Night Welcome Cruise
(in conjunction with Future Mining Conference official dinner)

5th November - Forum Day 1
(includes joint sessions with the Future Mining Conference)
- Registration Opens 8am
- Forum Proceedings Commence 8:45am
- Forum Proceedings Close 5:15pm

6th November - Forum Day 2
- Registration Opens 8am
- Forum Proceedings Commence 8:45am
- Forum Proceedings Close 5:15pm

LOCATION:

Australian Technology Park
Locomotive Street, Eveleigh NSW 2015

Registration for this event has closed.

_{Rene Fradet presenting his Curiosity On Mars public lecture at the 2013 Off Earth Mining Forum.}