Google: Drive to Space

Last week I shot the blog in the foot by talking about Google Drive and Planetary Resources 1 week early. Now that the wraps are off both what’s to talk about?

Google Drive: Go signup!

Drive is alive! You can get started by clicking here: drive.google.com/start

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=wKJ9KzGQq0w

Obviously that video is REALLY bad as it’s not showing any actual product, just some marketing.

I’ve already heard from one friend that the Google Drive app for Android works, so we should see some demonstrations of actual use very soon. I’ve actually got a copy of Chrome OS and Android installed on my Windows PC so the instant they approve me I’ll have something to review and compare how Google Drive works across devices/OS.

As more features are rolled out we’ll also try to cover integrations with GMail, YouTube, G+, Picasa, etc., as they are all apparently going to get some loving from Google Drive integration.

Planetary Resources: Go for mining!

Today is a big day for humanity and our future in space. By leveraging the value of near-earth asteroids Planetary Resources hopes to advance the science of space travel/discovery by identifying and mining these valuable hunks of floating rock.
Planetary Resources Asteroid Mining

While there’s obviously a lot more to be learned, current predictions of densities of just platinum-group metals alone (iridium, osmium, palladium, platinum, rhodium, and ruthenium in particular) could be more than anything we’ve ever mined in Earth’s history, on a single 500 meter asteroid.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fYYPN0BdBw&feature=player_embedded

Asteroids are just the ‘low hanging fruit’ of our universe and, by taking this easy first step, we’ll learn and discover so much that the truth is this project is clearly long overdue for humanity.

Until now asteroids have been studied for fear, but we know now that asteroids on a near earth orbit are actually a blessing for gathering resources that are not native to our planet, like the platinum-group of metals which are deposited on our planet by collisions with space debris. Rather than wait for more minerals to fall from the sky, we’re ready to reach out and explore.

I know that I am excited to bear witness to this in my lifetime. Really cool stuff!