Is Planetary Resources Using a NASA Report As a Business Plan?

In Pursuit of Riches, and Travelers’ Supplies, in the Asteroid Belt. NY Times

“[Eric Anderson and Peter H. Diamandis] set up Planetary Resources a couple of years ago, but have kept quiet about it until now.”

Asteroid Venture Is About Politics, Not Just Mining, Wall Street Journal

“The company, backed by several billionaires, is working to recruit engineering and mission-planning expertise and allow private companies to bid to help it launch the spacecraft, said John S. Lewis, a University of Arizona planetary-science professor who said he is an adviser to Planetary.”

Asteroid Retrieval Feasibility Study (full document)

“The research described in this paper was sponsored by the Keck Institute for Space Studies (KISS) and was carried out in part at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.”

– Chris Lewicki – Arkyd Astronautics
– John Lewis – University of Arizona
– Tom Jones – Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition”

Billionaire Investor Group Backs Audacious New Space Venture

– Charles Simonyi, Ph.D., Space Tourist, Planetary Resources, Inc. Investor
– Eric Anderson, Co-Founder & Co-Chairman, Planetary Resources, Inc.
– Peter H. Diamandis, M.D., Co-Founder & Co-Chairman, Planetary Resources, Inc.
– Chris Lewicki, President & Chief Engineer, Planetary Resources, Inc.
– Tom Jones, Ph.D., Planetary Scientist, Veteran NASA Astronaut & Planetary Resources, Inc. Advisor

Billionaire-backed asteroid mining venture starts with space telescopes, MSNBC

“The first step to mining an asteroid is figuring out what’s out there. To that end, Planetary Resources’ first project is what’s known as the Arkyd-101 personal space telescope.”

Keith’s note: This NASA-funded report about retrieving an asteroid was formally issued on 2 April 2012. On 24 April 2012 a company (Planetary Resources) backed by billionaires who want to retrieve an asteroid holds a press conference. One of the committee members is President & Chief Engineer of Planetary Resources. Two other members are advisors to Planetary Resources. None of these individuals list their committee affiliation as Planetary Resources on the report. I guess they hired these guys in the past few weeks, after the report was released, right?

But wait: Chris Lewiki lists his Arkyd Astronautics affiliation on the report – and Eric Anderson is co-chairman and co-founder of Arkyd. According to Lewiki’s LinkedIn page he has worked for Planetary Resources since January 2010. So why didn’t he mention this obvious overlap with regard to his committee participation?

Keith’s update: The Wall Street Journal posted this correction: “An earlier version of this article incorrectly said part of the aim of Planetary Resources would be to convince governments that the technology exists to snare an asteroid and pursue space mining in the near future at a relatively low cost.” Moments ago Peter Diamandis said on CNN that Planetary Resources wants to “form a public/private partnership with NASA”. Someone is confused.